Cold air to send temperatures plummeting for 60 million in the US

Well below average temperatures for November now gripping parts of US

Cold air is sending temperatures plummeting across the United States for nearly 60m people.

Parts of at least 15 states are under cold weather warnings this week as the chilliest temperatures of the season blanket the eastern US.

Low temperatures in the 20s and 30s will hit the Ohio Valley region and parts of the northeast on Thursday, and temperatures in the 40s will be seen as far south as Florida.

The lows are being caused by a string of wintry storms making their way across the US, along with blasts of chilly Canadian air.

Millions of people in cities such as Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh woke up on Wednesday to temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s, the coldest felt since April, and almost 10 degrees Fahrenheit below the November average.

Meanwhile the National Weather Service office in Gaylord, Michigan, saw a record November snowfall of more than 11 inches on Tuesday, the sixth highest at the office across all months.

The temperature in Dallas was higher than 80 degrees on Monday, but by Wednesday afternoon was set to have fallen to the mid-50s, around 20 degrees below average.

Following a very warm October, the calendar flipping to November has seen temperatures across the US fall between five and 15 degrees Fahrenheit below seasonal averages.

Last month the temperatures averaged three to six degrees Fahrenheit above normal.

Philadelphia experienced its third-warmest October on record, averaging a temperature of 64 degrees Fahrenheit for the whole month.

The average temperature in New York City was 62.0F, compared to a normal average of 57.9F, or 4.1 degrees above its average.

And dozens of other locations across the Mid-Atlantic region also experienced their top-three warmest October on record.

But the cold weather is not expected to stay around for long.

The Climate Prediction Center predicts that the eastern US and midwest have a high probability of returning to warmer-than-average temperatures during the second week of November.