User:DachshundLover82/sandbox/December 2017 North American winter storm

Synoptic history
The origins of the storm were complex, with the initial disturbance forming over the extreme southern United States as a stationary front left behind from a departing extratropical cyclone on December 7. Meanwhile, a cold air mass moved towards the Southern United States. The formation of a coastal trough and upper-level trough offshore Texas on December 6 brought a large plume of moisture across the entire Gulf Coast of the United States. A strong upper-level jet streak caused a large-scale lift, cooling the atmosphere over Texas, and allowing the development of a winter storm on the morning of December 7. Later that day, an additional upper-level jet streak moved into Texas, along with the initial upper-level jet streak forming an area of diffluence, enhanced lifting, cooling, and frontogenesis over South Texas. Wintry precipitation and eventually snow affected the region, along with rare thundersnow, before moving offshore into the Gulf of Mexico later on December 8. Around this time, The Weather Channel gave the winter storm an unofficial name, Benji.

Meanwhile, a gulf low formed in the Gulf of Mexico that same day, that would ultimately become the dominant low of the system. Transitioning into a nor'easter off the East Coast of the United States, the system began moving parallel to the shoreline, with a large swath of snowfall accompanying it. The low slowly deepened throughout the day of December 9, bringing the first snow of the season to many parts of the Northeast and New England. The nor'easter then dissipated over Maine and Eastern Canada on December 10.

Impact
The storm dumped over 6 in of snow across 17 states. The highest amount, 25.5 in, was in Mount Mitchell, North Carolina. The snow was highest in North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Alabama had numerous car crashes along Interstate 65. Atlanta saw over 1,000 cancellations. Snow fell as south as the Florida Panhandle and Brownsville, Texas, the latter was recently just shy of 90 F three days earlier. Further north, up to 7 in of snow fell in Salisbury, Maryland and Harbeson, Delaware, and 3.1 in of snow fell in New Haven, Connecticut.