The Nations Weather

NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY:

The warmest area of the country yesterday was across southern and central Florida where high temperatures pushed into the 80s. Numerous record high temperatures were set including West Palm Beach, Vero Beach, and Orlando who all topped out at 85 degrees. This warm air will be pushed out today as a cold front continues to track across Florida. Heavy showers will be found along this front today. There is the potential for significant amounts of rain with this front, which set a record in Jacksonville, FL yesterday with 1.63 inches.

A weak disturbance continues to move through the Great Lakes, spreading light snow across Michigan and the eastern Great Lakes. Most areas saw 1-4 inches of snow yesterday. Areas of Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, western Pennsylvania, and western New York will likely see an additional 1-3 inches of snow today. Cleveland only needs an additional 2.5 inches of snow to tie its record for the snowiest January on record.

Mild air will occur across the southwestern states. Gusty Santa Anna winds over southwestern California have been peaking at over 50 mph in some locations. There have been several reports of trees down and a report high winds lifting a roof off a hardware store near Riverside, CA.

Winds are expected continue this morning before weakening this afternoon. Further north, a Pacific system will bring in some rain showers to coastal Washington and snow to the northern Cascades.

WEATHER EXTREMES SO FAR TODAY:

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F).............87 Melbourne, FL

HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F)..............87 Melbourne, FL

LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F).............-13 Stanley, ID

LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)..............-37 Hallock, MN

HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH).................... 72 Riverside, CA

HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)............1.69 Jacksonville, FL

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY:

In 1936, Birmingham, AL was buried under 11 inches of snow. This set a single storm snow record for the city.

In 1977, after 3 days of blizzard conditions, Buffalo, NY was finally able to begin to dig out. The storm dropped another foot of snow onto the 33 inches that were already on the ground. Winds gusting to 75 mph produced zero visibilities and snow drifts twenty-five feet high.

In 2005, nearly 320,000 homes were left without power after a significant ice storm struck parts of northern Georgia. Some areas received up to 2 inches of ice with this storm.

DTN-Meteorlogix

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