The Nations Weather

NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY:

The lake-effect machine was in full swing on Thursday with snow to the south of all the Great Lakes. Erie County in Pennsylvania once again stole the highest snowfall total, racking up 8.8 inches in a 12 hour stretch on Thursday. Portions of Crawford county in Pennsylvania picked up between 2 and 6 inches of snow, with the highest amounts near Canadohta Lake. Snow in northeastern Ohio generally ranged in the 2 to 5 inch range, highest near Welshfield, Ohio and Solon, Ohio where 4.5 and 3.8 inches of snow, respectively, was reported. Light snows also fell across the Appalachians, mainly focused across the northern facing slopes. Exact snowfall totals were difficult to find with so little reporting stations, but up to 3 to 5 inches were experienced at a few locales. Cold air surged down from the Ohio Valley into the Tennessee Valley and portions of the Deep South, with freezing temperatures anticipated by the morning hours on Friday.

The central states of the country was mostly dry under a broad area of cold high pressure. The only appreciable rain was across the Front Range of the Rockies in the early portions of the day where some freezing drizzle was reported, as well as across far southern Texas where isolated showers interrupted the otherwise warm temperatures. Isolated, non-accumulating flurries were reported over portions of the western Great Lakes as the cooler air moved in, with very little of it sticking to the ground. The Panhandle Territory experienced windy conditions during the afternoon hours as cold air surged southwards, with gusts to near 30 mph at times.

A Pacific trough moved into the Northwestern States by the late afternoon hours on Thursday, bringing with it copious amounts of rain and higher elevation snows. Snow accumulation was generally between 2 and 4 inches, with up to 8 inches at ski resort elevations. The storm pushed into the Intermountain West and western Montana by the late evening hours, spreading valley rains and high elevation snows along with it. Windy conditions were experienced across much of Montana and Wyoming with a strong pressure gradient between the approaching low in the west and the strong high pressure over the Plains. Wind gusts to near 40 mph were reported across portions of Montana. The Great Basin, Desert Southwest and California remained fairly dry through the day on Thursday.

WEATHER EXTREMES FOR YESTERDAY:

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F).............88 Imperial and El Centro, CA

HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F)..............88 Imperial and El Centro, CA

LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)...............3 Fryeburg, ME

LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)..............-12 Fosston, MN

HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH).....................56 Hill AFB in Ogden, UT

HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)............0.53 Yachats, OR

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY:

In 1967, excessive rains in southern California caused the most severe flooding and the most damaging mud slides in 33 years. Eight inches of rain were reported in downtown Los Angeles, California, with up to 14 inches of rain in the mountains.

In 1985, Hurricane Kate made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida. Kate is the latest known hurricane to hit the United States so far north.

In 1999, the lack of rain across much of the southern and southeastern states allowed for numerous forest and wild fires across the region.

DTN-Meteorlogix

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