Snow vs. heat: US faces extreme weather dichotomy from coast to coast

Which season does it feel like? That depends on where you are in the United States as some folks on Monday needed a snow shovel, while others geared up for a long-lasting heat wave.

As residents of the Northeast and Midwest prepare for an extreme heat wave, those who live in parts of the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest are experiencing snow and unusually cold weather in the lead-up to Thursday, the first day of summer.

Nearly one million residents of the West were under a winter weather advisory or a frost advisory Monday morning. Snow was on the ground at ski resorts and covered mountain passes in Idaho and Montana.

Great Falls, Montana, should have an afternoon high temperature of 73 degrees this time of year, but the AccuWeather forecast for Monday is a high temperature of only 45 degrees.

Several inches of snow fell Sunday into Monday morning in six states and provinces - British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

While snow does fall at high elevations in early June, late-June snowfalls are less common. Last year, the last significant snowfall in the Rockies took place on June 24-25.

On Monday, snow levels in the northern Rockies were around 5,000 feet. A few inches of snow can accumulate at those elevations, and 6-10 inches can accumulate at 8,000 feet and higher.

AccuWeather forecasters say that the snow will be wet in the lower elevations and could bring down trees and power lines and cause hazardous travel for vehicles and hikers. The snow will move away Tuesday, and temperatures will moderate. By this weekend, temperatures in some towns in the Rockies will be 40 degrees higher than today.