Snow forecast for Northern Plains and potential record cold in the South

BISMARCK, N.D. — Some of the first wintry weather of the season is on the way for much of the U.S. in the coming days, including potentially record low temperatures for parts of the South and snow in the Northern Plains.

“Seems like a shot across the bow,” said Judah Cohen, a research scientist at MIT.

The Dakotas and parts of southern Minnesota have the highest potential for snowfall late Friday through Saturday morning, including some areas that could see as much as 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 centimeters) of snow, said Ashton Robinson Cook, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

Temperatures from the 60s to the 80s (15 to 27 Celsius) on Friday across much of the central U.S. are expected to plummet as a front spreads from th