The Nations Weather

NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY:

Across the north, the powerful winter storm which brought heavy snow and blizzard like conditions to much of the Dakotas and western Minnesota on Tuesday was finally exiting to the north of the Great Lakes.

Lingering lake effect snows fell across northern Michigan with some light accumulations in areas. Winds remained on the high side across much of the Great Lakes region with some 40-50 mph gusts reported. Arctic high pressure building into the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest in wake of storm continued to bring extremely cold weather with high temperatures running 30 degrees below normal on average from the Dakotas through Minnesota. Most of North Dakota as well as northwest Minnesota and portions of northern SD failed to rise above zero for the day. Winds have stayed up here and have prompted wind chill advisories for wind chills of 30 below zero through early this morning. Further to the east, rain fell from Pennsylvania and New York and through the New England states as a cold front swept through the region. Freezing rain and snow fell across northern Maine but most of the precipitation pushed offshore by the early afternoon hours along cold front. Much of the east coast was still very warm with highs reaching the 60s and 70s across the Mid Atlantic before cold front passed by. Dry conditions returned behind front but rivers were still running high with flood warnings ongoing for much of the area between northern Missouri and southern Michigan.

In the southern portion of the country, heavy rain developed throughout much of Texas resulting in 1-2 inches of rain over central and northern portions of the state. The Dallas-Fort Worth area picked up over 2.50 inches of rain which was more rain than they had received in a single day since last March. Rain also fell to the east across much of Arkansas and northern Louisiana as front began to stall across the region. The southeast states continued to see very warm temperatures with 80s as far north as Richmond, VA. Record highs were set in North Charleston with 85 and Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina with 84. Cooler weather was felt across the Plains with well below normal temperatures dipping all the way down into west Texas resulting in freezing rain in some areas.

In the western half two thirds of the country the weather was rather benign on Wednesday. A few light rain and snow showers fell across New Mexico and eastern Arizona with some light snow also in the Yellowstone National Park area otherwise it was dry throughout. Temperatures remained below normal for most of the region with the coldest conditions felt across the Pacific Northwest. Several record lows were set including: Lewiston, ID (15); Pendleton, OR (19); Long Creek, OR (6); Seattle, WA (28); and Spokane, WA (2). The two degrees in Spokane was the coldest temperature ever this late in the season.

WEATHER EXTREMES FOR YESTERDAY:

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F).............90 McAllen, TX

............................................ Falfurrias, TX

HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F)..............90 McAllen, TX

LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F).............-27 Polebridge, MT

LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)..............-42 Minot, ND

HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH).....................53 Saranac Lake, NY

HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)............2.78 Dallas-Fort Worth, TX

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY:

In 1954, a broad storm brought blizzard like conditions to eastern Wyoming and western South Dakota with hail and rain on eastern side of storm over parts of Wisconsin and Michigan. In between, freezing rain isolated many communities from northeast Nebraska to central Iowa.

In 1967, a powerful storm, lasting four days ravaged across much of central California with heavy rain and mountain snow. Rain flooded valley areas and snow of up to eight feet fell in Squaw Valley, California with winds reported to 90 mph.

In 1989, unseasonably warm temperatures across the southwest and central US resulted in nineteen cities to set record highs for the date. Wichita Falls, Texas had a high of 95 and Childress, Texas was the first spot in the country to see 100 degrees for the year.

DTN-Meteorlogix

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