In new year, nation sees winter weather at last (Reuters)

CHICAGO (Reuters) ? The new year is bringing the return of a phenomenon that has been mostly absent across the nation through December -- winter.

After a mild start to the season, temperatures are dropping throughout the country and strong winds are making the cold air feel colder Sunday, according to weather.com. Gale-force winds that raked Colorado on Saturday were blamed for one death.

In the Midwest through Sunday night, sustained winds of 20 to 35 miles per hour are likely with gusts of more than 40 and 50 miles per hour possible, the weather website said.

Winds in Colorado on Saturday were blamed for scattered power outages and overturned semi-trucks, prompting authorities to close roads in the mountains and on the plains east of Denver.

A 61-year-old man was killed in Boulder County, northwest of Denver, when a wind gust snapped a tree branch and sent it flying through the windshield of the vehicle he was driving, said Sergeant Mike Baker, spokesman for the Colorado State Patrol.

James Baker-Jarvis died at a local hospital from "blunt-force trauma," Baker told Reuters.

Weather.com said temperatures will drop into the single digits and teens over portions of the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and interior Northeast Monday into Tuesday.

As the low-pressure system moves away from the Great Lakes on Sunday, snow will start to develop to the south and east of Lakes Superior and Michigan, with snows the most widespread on Monday from the Great Lakes into the Appalachians.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for western Michigan. The area could get up to 10 inches or more of snow from Sunday afternoon through Monday night, according to the NWS. Brief periods of blizzard-like conditions are possible Sunday night and early Monday, mainly near the lakeshore.

The areas of northwest Michigan, northeast of Cleveland to Buffalo, and east of Lake Ontario could get as much as two feet of snow, according to weather.com.

Southern states will not escape the cold snap. Forecasters predict highs in the 50s as far south as Tampa and Orlando in central Florida on Tuesday.

(Additional reporting by Keith Coffman; Editing by Colleen Jenkins)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120101/us_nm/us_weather

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