The Nation - News from May 5, 1986

A powerful wintry storm moved into the Rockies, threatening Montana’s livestock, and the East Coast began thawing out from a blast of Canadian cold air that set record lows in 18 cities from Maine to the Carolinas. It was 32 degrees in Knoxville, Tenn., the coldest ever recorded there for the month of May. The storm in the Rockies separated cold air from very warm air over the high Plains. In front of the cold air mass, Rapid City, S.D., climbed to 91 degrees, while Idaho Falls, Ida., had a high of 38 degrees. To the east, the cold front, which hit the upper Great Lakes last week and then moved slowly eastward, dropped temperatures below freezing along the Atlantic Coast.