Winter Roars Back in Plains, East After 6 Record High Days

A breath of early spring died Monday as winter roared back into the nation’s midsection with snow, freezing rain and below-zero wind chill readings after six consecutive days of record high temperatures.

Residents from the Plains to the East Coast, treated to a spring-like weekend of boating, picnics and outdoor pleasure of all kinds, draped themselves in winter regalia once again.

“I was barbecuing over the weekend and now I might be shoveling,” said Bob Finn, 25, a Chicago roofer who stayed home from work because of freezing rain, cold and high winds. It was a record 74 degrees in Chicago on Sunday, but a bitter wind chill of 6 below zero stung the Windy City on Monday afternoon.

‘Frozen Tundra Time’

“There was no way I was going to go into work (Sunday) like I was supposed to do with the weather so warm. But I guess it’s back to frozen tundra time,” said attorney Elliot Staffin in Milwaukee, where a record high of 70 on Sunday was only a fond memory less than 24 hours later, with readings in the 30s and snow flurries.

Winds gusting to 40 m.p.h. in Jamestown, N.D., dropped wind chill temperatures to 42 below zero, and strong winds around the Great Lakes kicked up six-foot high waves that crashed over Chicago’s lake front barriers, flooding outer drive roadways. Authorities were forced to close several spots on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive during the morning rush hour because of high water.

Warnings for gale-force winds were posted over lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan. The strong winds made for bitter wind chill readings up to 25 degrees below zero across parts of upper Michigan and northern lower Michigan.

The strong winds also were blamed for ripping down power lines in northern Illinois, briefly knocking out power to about 2,000 customers of Commonwealth Edison Co. in five of Chicago’s northern suburbs.

On Monday afternoon, snow stretched from western Nebraska, across South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, western Kansas, northern Wisconsin, upper and northern lower Michigan. Freezing rain chilled central Colorado, central Kansas and northeast Illinois.

137 Record Highs Shattered

After spring-like conditions shattered 137 record highs nationwide since last Wednesday, the National Weather Service advised late Sunday that “the party is over.”

“I hadn’t put my winter clothes away yet,” said Russ Crawford of Ainsworth, Neb., where the wind chill was 21 below zero Monday morning after a 77-degree reading on Saturday. “It’s quite a change.”