Over the weekend, the temperatures hovered in the lower and middle sixties, but those balmy numbers are now just a pleasant memory as record snow, cold temps and biting, blowing wind pounds much of the Southwest and the Great Plains areas of the United States. Dozens of motorists are reportedly stranded on highways in multiple areas as white out conditions push through the area from New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.

Southern Colorado is also seeing major blizzard like conditions with forecasters predicted anywhere from eight to sixteen inches of snow to be dumped down onto the area before the storm is over and done with. Snow is expected in other areas as temperatures fall from the unseasonably warmth seen over the weekend. In Kansas, the temperatures remained in the high forties for much of Monday with thunderstorms and pouring rain but the cold was already moving in by midday and forecasters are warning about snow that is coming for the overnight hours.

In Oklahoma, the Department of Transportation has said that road crews would be on the road around the clock if necessary so that roads could be kept clear. There is over 130,000 tons of a salt and sand mixture to keep the roads as passable and safe as they can be. The goal is to prevent the hundreds of motorists that were stranded in New Mexico. A number of roads in that area, including parts of the interstate were closed because of the blowing snow and rising drifts.

Amarillo, Texas is just one place that is happily waiting for the snow to come along- that area has been struck by a major drought that has caused farmers and ranchers to lose millions of dollars in crops and livestock.

Despite the major storm system that is trekking across the Southwest area right now, forecasters are currently saying that hopes of a white Christmas is only a remote possibility in much of the US. Only twenty percent of the nation has at least an inch of snow covering the ground right now, and the snowfall levels for the month of December are down over seventy percent from last year at this same time. The National Weather Service has said that snowfall is at its lowest point across the entire country since 2003 and many areas are expecting temperatures that are unseasonably warm- much too warm for snow to fall and coat the ground by Christmas time.