The Nations Weather

NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY:

The weather was relatively quiet across the eastern half of the country yesterday. Light lake enhanced snows across the eastern Great Lakes diminished by yesterday morning with little additional accumulations. The winds remained strong through the morning across the northeast with gusts of 25-35 mph but diminished as the day went on and high pressure moved in. A few scattered rain showers moved across southeast Florida, but little to no rainfall was been reported. A disturbance spread some isolated showers starting from eastern Kansas early and across southern Missouri and Arkansas and into the western Tennessee Valley during the afternoon hours. These isolated showers remained overnight, spreading across northern Alabama and Georgia. Reported rainfall has been light and below 0.05 inches. Temperatures across the east were cooler than normal yesterday. The rest of the East has been under the influence of high pressure with plentiful sunshine and dry weather.

The Pacific Northwest and northern High Plains saw most of the action yesterday, while the southwest remained mostly dry. Snow levels fell to near 4,000 in the Pacific Northwest and are expected to drop further through today. Snow accumulation from 6-12 inches fell across the Cascades and the mountains through northern Idaho and western Montana. Periods of heavy snow and strong wind gusts of 25-40 mph caused dangerous travel conditions through the region. Rain has been heavy across western Washington and western Oregon where amounts have range from 0.4-0.9 inch and isolated locations have picked up over 1 inch. Scattered snow showers and areas of freezing rain spread across North Dakota and into northern Minnesota overnight. Travel was not advised across North Dakota due to the icy roadways. Meanwhile, warm temperatures spread along the foothills of the Rockies from Texas to Nebraska. High temperatures into the 90s were found across much of western Texas. Midland, Texas recorded a daily record high of 90 degrees, which also tied its highest February reading on record.

WEATHER EXTREMES FOR YESTERDAY:

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

.............................................. Fort Stockton, TX

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

LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F).............-15 Spincich Lake, MI

LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)..............-30 Mount Pocono, PA

HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH).....................60 Douglas, WY

HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)............1.40 Eugene, OR

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY:

In 1922, record warmth spread across Southern California. Los Angeles report a high of 92 degrees, setting a new record for February.

In 1987, a winter storm spread snow from the southwestern U.S. to the Dakotas. Many locations across Arizona, Nevada, and Utah reported over two feet of snow. Alpine, AZ reported 82 inches for the storm.

In 1989, record cold temperatures spread across Florida. Jacksonville recorded a record low of 24 degrees. In all, 13 cities in Florida reported record low temperatures. The cold claimed three lives and resulted in $250 to $$300 in crop damage.

DTN-Meteorlogix/J. Stephen

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