And it’s not even winter yet! Arctic blast smashes records for snow and cold

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

An arctic blast of cold air has dropped temperatures to record-breaking lows and brought snow earlier than normal.

The first winter storm of the season dumped up to 5 inches of snow in parts of the Miami Valley and set a daily snowfall record Monday at the Dayton International Airport after 2.3 inches fell that day, breaking the 125-year-old record of 2 inches set in 1894. Dayton normally does not see the first inch or more of snow until the beginning of December.

>> First snow of season: how much did you get?

Low temperatures also are breaking records this week.

On Tuesday, the high and low for the day set records. The high of 26 degrees broke the old record of 30 degrees set in 1920. Just before midnight, temperatures in Dayton dropped to 11 degrees, breaking the record low of 15 degrees set in 1911.

The temperature continued to fall during the start of Wednesday, hitting 5 degrees at 5:16 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. This shattered the old record of 13 degrees set in 1986.

Wednesday morning is the earliest that Dayton has dropped into the single digits on record. Previously, the earliest Dayton saw single digit temperatures was Nov. 17 in 1959.

>>TRACK THE CONDITIONS: Live Doppler 7 Radar

Temperatures will begin to warm up, with highs reaching the 40s this weekend, which is still 10 degrees below normal.

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