The Nations Weather

NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY:

In the eastern half of the nation, an area of low pressure was found near the Quad Cities, Iowa region early in the day with a cold front extending to the south and back into the Southern Plains. A warm front/stationary front extended from the low to the east across the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern New England areas. By the end of the day, this low shifted to be located over western Lake Erie with an occluded front into northern OH, a cold front through the OH Valley and Lower MS Valley, and a warm front extending through PA and DE. Heavy rainfall was noted near the vicinity of the low pressure center throughout the day and also out ahead of the warm front. Rainfall amounts yesterday ranged from a quarter of an inch to one inch in most areas from Missouri and Iowa to Ohio and Michigan. Several locations within this area reported rainfall amounts higher than one inch, including Fort Wayne, Indiana which recorded almost three inches of rain.

Along and just ahead of the cold front, heavy showers and thunderstorms were observed yesterday over Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. Many of these storms were severe with widespread reports of damaging wind gusts and large hail. Twenty-two tornadoes were also reported in this activity across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. To the north of the surface low pressure, winter weather occurred across northern Iowa, southern Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Most areas received a coating to two inches with Albert Lea, MN reporting 2.2 inches.

Across the western half of the nation, a deep upper level disturbance slowly began to drop southwards out of British Columbia and Alberta and into the Inland Northwest yesterday. This storm system was responsible for snowfall across parts of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. In the lower elevations in these states, snow amounts ranged from 1-4 inches but in the higher elevations snow amounts ranged from 6-12 inches. Temperatures have also plummeted across this region as a frigid airmass has settled in. Scattered showers also developed during the evening yesterday across southern portions of Arizona and New Mexico. Skies were cloudy over the Inland Northwest in response to the storm system while only a few high clouds passed over the Southwest. Typical low clouds and fog were observed yesterday morning in the central and northern California coastal valleys.

WEATHER EXTREMES YESTERDAY:

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F).............87 Laredo, TX

HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F)..............87 Laredo, TX

LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)..............-9 Crane Lake, MN

LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)..............-15 Cut Bank, MT

HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH).....................64 Sheboygan, WI

HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)............2.87 Fort Wayne, IN

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY:

In 1936, Two major rainstorms combine with melting snow to cause severe flooding in New England. $100 million in damage and 24 deaths resulted from the storms.

In 1956, The snowpack at Ranier Paradise Ranger Station in Washington measures 367 inches, a record for the state and second deepest in U.S. weather records.

In 1990, Mount Redoubt in Alaska erupted, sending an ash plume 35,000 feet into the atmosphere. DTN-Meteorlogix/A FELBER

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