• As California shivers, other parts of US enjoy record highs in January

    Damian Dovarganes / AP

    A high school student covers from the cold wind while waiting a a bus stop in Los Angeles on Thursday.

    By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A chill has left California frozen in its tracks, stranding motorists on snowy roadways and keeping everyone close to the warmth of their heaters.

    A low pressure trough descending over San Diego County and over parts of neighboring Orange County could keep nightly temperatures below the freezing point in coastal areas, the low deserts and inland valleys, threatening orange, avocado orchards and other sensitive plants, forecasters warned, reported The Associated Press. Friday and Saturday nights were expected to be the coldest nights.

    Meanwhile, on the East Coast, as well as parts of the South and Midwest, a record warm 2012 was spilling over into the new year. Four Florida cities broke records for the month of January on Wednesday, weather.com reported, all with temperatures 85 degrees Fahrenheit or above. And on Thursday, in International Falls, Minn., the temperature climbed to 48 degrees, beating its previous record high for the day by seven degrees, according to weather.com.

    For more, go to weather.com

    Elsewhere across the country, Chicago and Detroit could reach highs in the 50s this weekend — weather that's typical for late March, weather.com reported. Temperatures in the 60s are forecast for Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis, average weather for the second week in April in those locations, meteorologists said. 

    In all, two dozen cities may break their daily record highs Friday, weather.com forecast. And 40 or more cities in the South and East may tie or break daily record highs Saturday, including Rochester, N.Y., Columbus, Ohio, and Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

    Those mild temperatures contrasted greatly to the Grapevine section of California's Interstate 5 — the crucial artery that links southern and northern California -- which shut down Thursday night, the AP reported. Heavy snow stranded motorists and truckers. Several accidents and spin-outs were reported before the California Highway Patrol closed the north-south route, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.

    "We're still dealing with some icy and snowy conditions along the Grapevine," said NBCLosAngeles.com forecaster Elita Loresca. "We'll see some improvement in and around the Grapevine, but frost advisories and freeze watches will be posted again tonight and, once again, overnight Saturday into Sunday."

     


    Elsewhere, strawberry growers covered their crops with soft cloth to protect them.

    "These guys are going to be up all night watching thermometers," Eric Larson of the San Diego County Farm Bureau told The AP. 

    Freezing temperatures weren't the only weather challenge in Southern California: Forecasters say a combination of high tides, high surf and strong winds will bring minor flooding to low-lying areas of the coast. The weather service issued coastal flood advisories for all counties from San Luis Obispo south to San Diego through Saturday morning, reported The AP.

    Farther north in Sonoma County, homeless shelters were handing out warm clothes to protect the least fortunate from below-freezing temperatures overnight, according to The AP. 

    Even workers at San Diego's SeaWorld had plans to turn up the heat for their macaws, toucans and parrots. San Diego zookeepers were also heating rooms for chimpanzees, apes and other tropical animals. 

    "They'll probably be huddling together and not be in areas where people will be able to see them," zoo spokeswoman Christina Simmons told The AP. 

    California isn't the only part of the country going through a cold snap. Parts of the Dakotas and northern Montana may not get above zero degrees this weekend, and Chicago may struggle to rise above freezing, weather.com said.

    The Weather Channel's Jon Erdman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • Record heat in the Dakotas poses fire danger, threatens crops

    Dirk Lammers / AP

    Anglers gather on the Missouri River below the Fort Randall Dam for some winter fishing Wednesday in Fort Randall, S.D., where temperatures hit the high 50s.

    By msnbc.com staff and NBC News

    Record high January temperatures may be nice for the average resident of the Dakotas, but they're worrying for farmers and firefighters alike.

    Temperatures in the mid-50s were recorded across North and South Dakota. The record high of 55 Wednesday in Bismarck, N.D., was 32 degrees above normal. In fact, in some parts of the Dakotas, it's warmer this January than it is in many parts of Florida.

    Florida oranges survive cold snap

    Record warmth was forecast again in many areas. In Minot, N.D., the forecast low temperature Thursday is in the mid-30s. That's 15 degrees warmer than the average daytime high for early January, said Justin McHeffey, weather director at NBC station KMOT.

    With highs forecast in the 60s later this week in some areas, following a period of below-average precipitation, authorities warned that the risk for a wildland fire — in winter — is higher than usual.

    "The conditions are ripe," said Dennis Gorton, administrator of the Pennington County, S.D., Fire Department.

    "If we had 6 inches of snow cover ... it wouldn't be any kind of concern," Gorton told NBC station KNBN of Rapid City. "But we just don't have the snow cover this year."

    The lack of snow is also a problem for farmers. While it may seem paradoxical, hardy Northern crops need at least 3 inches of snow cover to keep them warm during the winter months — the snow, which is at or just below freezing, is actually much warmer than air temperatures that routinely drop into double digits below zero. So if a cold snap were to hit now, crops would be at risk.

    More weather news on msnbc.com

    Agriculture officials in both states rated snow cover protection for alfalfa and winter wheat as poor. That's because the average snow depth this week is about only two-tenths of an inch; it's usually more than a foot and a half in January.

    Lower but still higher-than usual temperatures are forecast across most of the region by the weekend.

    NBC stations KFYR of Bismarck, N.D.; KMOT of Minot, N.D.; and KNBN of Rapid City, S.D., contributed to this report by Alex Johnson of msnbc.com. 

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