The Nations Weather

NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY:

In the East, scattered showers and thunderstorms were common across southern Georgia and Florida, especially in the afternoon and early evening. The main effects were locally heavy downpours and frequent lightning strikes. Most rainfall totals were less than half an inch. However, 1.39 inches of rain fell in Fort Myers, Florida from a thunderstorm. Meanwhile, isolated showers and thunderstorms affected immediate coastal sections of North Carolina through the afternoon and evening. The main rain shield remained offshore, so rainfall amounts were generally light. Elsewhere, high pressure brought partly cloudy skies and dry weather to the Northeast, the Great Lakes, and the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys.

In the Nations midsection, scattered showers and thunderstorms developed during the late afternoon across the northern High Plains. They strengthened as they moved east through the Dakotas and Nebraska. A few of these storms became strong to severe with the primary effect being large hail. In fact, tennis ball sized hail fell near Kadoka, South Dakota as a severe storm pushed through. The same storm produced baseball sized hail east of Wanblee, South Dakota a little later. Also, penny sized hail dropped from the sky north of Gordon, Nebraska. Rainfall amounts were generally less than a quarter of an inch as the storms were on the move. Locally higher totals did occur, though, with local amounts over 1 inch. To the south, scattered showers and thunderstorms occurred across Deep South Texas. Three quarters of an inch of rain fell in Harlingen, Texas. These storms did not become strong. Meanwhile, widely scattered showers and thunderstorms blossomed during the evening across portions of the Upper Midwest. This activity was not significant. Elsewhere, dry and pleasant conditions were common across the rest of the Great Plains.

In the West, widely scattered showers and thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours across the Rocky Mountains. The greatest concentration of storms occurred across the northern Rockies. No severe storms occurred. Snow levels dropped to around 6000 feet or so across the mountains of western Montana, resulting in a coating of snow for the highest elevations. Meanwhile, widely scattered rain showers fell across the interior Pacific Northwest. Rainfall amounts approached half an inch, mainly in higher elevations. Elsewhere, dry and mild weather occurred across most of the Great Basin, California, and the Desert Southwest.

WEATHER EXTREMES FOR YESTERDAY:

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)............102 Death Valley, CA

.............................................. Gila Bend, AZ

HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F).............103 Key West, FL

LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)..............25 Truckee, CA

LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)...............20 Evanston, WY

HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH).....................52 Monarch Pass, CO

HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)............1.55 Devils Lake, ND

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY:

In 1904, the temperature at Charlotteburg, New Jersey, dipped to 23 degrees, which was the coldest reading on record for so early in the autumn for the state.

In 1983, a thunderstorm downburst caused a timber blowdown in the Kaibab National Forecast, north of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Two hundred acres were completely destroyed and scattered areas of destruction occurred across another 3,300 acres. Many trees were snapped off 15 to 30 feet above ground level.

In 1988, severe thunderstorms occurred in portions of Oklahoma during the afternoon and early evening hours. Thunderstorms produced softball sized hail near Noble and Enterprise, Oklahoma. Baseball sized hail occurred at Lequire and Kinta, Oklahoma. A tornado near Noble, Oklahoma, destroyed a mobile home and injured one person.

Filed by DTN-Meteorlogix.

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