An unwelcome blast of winter in the United States may help make stay-at-home orders easier to follow when a looping jet stream sends below-freezing temperatures to parts of the East Coast. On the West Coast, near-record highs may make indoor air conditioning more appealing than the outdoors.Starting Friday, part of the Eastern U.S. will be bracing for freezing weather and possibly some snow after a relatively warm winter.According to meteorologist Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel, there will be record-breaking low temperatures over the Great Lakes this weekend. In addition, the Northeast could experience a bomb cyclone, a rapidly intensifying, low-temperature storm, as it moves over the Gulf of Maine.From the Ohio Valley to the Northeast and on up to Maine, snow and high winds are predicted beginning Friday and are expected to strengthen Saturday. Power outages caused by tree damage are also expected.Out West, a heat wave that brought some record-setting temperatures throughout late April has worsened. The National Weather Service has posted heat warnings for parts of California and some southwestern states.The high of 30 set a record Wednesday at the Los Angeles International Airport.Temperatures peaked Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles at 33 after late April brought back-to-back 34-degree days. These temperatures mark the second-hottest temperatures of the, year with the highest temperature on record for the month being 39 degrees, set in 1896.In addition, Las Vegas saw 32-plus-degree highs nearly every day in May, significantly higher than the city’s average 19- to 29-degree temperatures.In California, high temperatures mixed with a drought and forceful offshore winds are raising concerns about potential wildfires.”While it’s early in the season, there will be an elevated fire risk into Saturday as the offshore winds bring humidity levels down,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Brian Thompson said recently.Santa Barbara, north of Los Angeles, is already combating an 80-hectare brush fire. The fire is being fed by winds the National Weather Service reported reached 108 kph.Back on the East Coast, there are three wildfires blazing in the Florida Panhandle, causing more than 1,000 people to evacuate.With high winds, low humidity and no rain in the forecast, “the threat is far from over,” Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said Thursday.The Five Mile Swamp Fire started Monday after a private contractor’s prescribed burn got out of control, Fried said. According to the Tampa Bay Times, National Weather Service meteorologist Jack Cullen said the dryness helped fuel the fire, but the wind is the real culprit.
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