The Nations Weather

NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY:

Across the east, it was another cold start to the day along the Eastern Seaboard with temperatures dropping below freezing all the way south into southern Georgia. Sub-zero readings were reported over northern New England. Record lows were recorded from North Carolina to New York. Atlantic City, New Jersey notched another record with a low of 10 degrees. Milder air will begin to stream into the East and the weather should become quite warm by the weekend. Mostly dry conditions were found other than some scattered light rain showers across New York overnight and a few snow flakes across Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Mild temperatures were found from New Mexico and Texas to the Great Lakes. Record highs were recorded from Texas to Nebraska. Topeka, Kansas set a new record with a balmy 86 degrees. Seventy degree temperatures made it as far north as central and eastern Iowa. Chicago and Milwaukee were into the 60s, over 20 degrees above normal. Further north, low clouds and fog kept areas of northern Minnesota and North Dakota cooler with highs in the 30s and 40s. Some light snow and freezing drizzle also fell through the day across northern Minnesota.

Across the west, snow fell across much of eastern Washington and northern Idaho yesterday as a storm dove southward out of Canada. Snow levels hovered around 2000-2500 feet for much of the day, which limited accumulations across many locations like Spokane which picked up less than an inch. Convective showers developed over southern Washington and spread into the central Idaho panhandle producing heavy mountain snow. Most locations across northern and central Idaho picked up 4 to 12 inches. Up to 14 inches fell at Bear Mountain. Snow moved across the western mountains of Montana, dropping on average 2 to 6 inches of the white stuff with up to 14.5 inches at Mullan Pass. Snow diminished over these areas overnight. An area of snow moved through portions of Utah early yesterday, dropping 2 to 7 inches around the Salt Lake City basin. Some areas across the Wasatch Mountains reported 7 to 15 inches of snow. Elsewhere, windy conditions continued across New Mexico, Arizona and southern Nevada with gusts commonly exceeding 40 mph. Las Vegas airport reported a 61 mph wind gust.

WEATHER EXTREMES FOR YESTERDAY:

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F).............94 Pecos, TX

.............................................. Vernon, TX

HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F)..............89 Pecos, TX

LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F).............-15 Whitefield, NH

LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)..............-15 Ely, NV

HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH).....................63 Clines Corner, NM

HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)............1.50 Chepeta, UT

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY: In 1872, bitterly cold temperatures hit the East coast, sending the mercury plunging to 8 degrees below zero at Boston. It remains the most severe cold snap for that area in March. In 1954, record snowfall was reported across Florida. Pensacola, FL picked up 2.1 inches of snow. In 1989, more than a foot of snow blanketed parts of Missouri and Arkansas. Springfield, MO was buried under 14 inches while Lebanon picked up 16 inches.

DTN-Meteorlogix

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