The Nations Weather

NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY:

In the east, colder air settled in across the region Thursday with scattered snow showers common from the Great Lakes to northern New England. A few inches of snow was reported across the snow belt regions of northeast OH, northwest PA and portions of western NY. Light snow fell through the day across WV and was also reported as far south as the mountain areas of TN and adjacent areas of NC. Sunny skies returned to the Gulf coast region.

Across the central US, light snow pushed out of MT and into ND during the afternoon hours. This snow then expanded southeastward across northern SD and southwest MN by evening with some light accumulations beginning. Quiet weather encompassed the central Plains through the lower Mississippi Valley with generally sunny skies through the day. It was mild across the Plains with highs reaching the middle 80s over portions of southern TX. The warm weather extended north into NE where highs reached the middle 60s over southwest NE.

Wet weather has finally exited the Pacific Northwest as high pressure builds over the region. River and stream flooding continues over much of western areas of WA and OR however. Moderate to heavy snow fell across much of the mountain areas of ID, MT and western WY Thursday with 6-12 inches of accumulation common across the higher elevations. Gusty winds with some gusts over 50 mph were reported across southern MT and portions of WY. Dry pattern continued across the southwest states with high pressure parked over the four corners region.

WEATHER EXTREMES FOR YESTERDAY:

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F).............86 Falfurrias, TX

HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F)..............85 Harlingen, TX

LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F).............-20 Babbit, MN

LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)..............-34 St Cloud, MN

HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH).....................60 Livingston, MT

HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)............2.70 Skykomish, WA

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY:

In 1875, an extremely cold air mass gripped the Rockies and northern Plain states. Cheyenne, WY set its all time record low as the mercury plummeted to -38 degrees.

In 1888, extreme cold settled over much of the western US with the Columbia River at Portland, OR freezing over for a period of 2 weeks. Cold also affected southern CA where citrus farms were hurt by sub freezing temperatures.

In 1989, very windy conditions in CO across the eastern slopes of the Rockies produced wind gusts of 113 mph at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and a 115 mph gust reported at Boulder.

DTN-Meteorlogix

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.