The Nations Weather

Yesterday in the East, the biggest weather story has been the landfall of Hurricane Gustav. Gustav made landfall around half past ten EDT yesterday morning near Cocodrie, Louisiana, packing sustained winds of 50 to 80 mph and gusts over 100 mph, making this storm a Category 2 at landfall. The highest wind gust yesterday was at Southwest Pass, Louisiana with a gust of 117 mph and numerous wind gusts of 70 to 90 mph have been reported out of Louisiana. Wind gusts have also been in the 30 to 60 mph range along coastal sections of Mississippi, Alabama, and the western Florida Panhandle, leading to widespread power outages, downed trees and considerable damage already today to homes and businesses. Hundreds of thousands of people were without power across Louisiana due to the Gustavs fury. The winds, coupled with tide levels 10 to 14 feet above normal, led to coastal flooding. In addition, Gustav spawned 17 tornadoes in Louisiana, Mississippi, southern Alabama, and the western Florida Panhandle yesterday. Official rainfall reports were generally in the one to three inch rage, but there were radar estimates of over eight inches of rain in coastal southeastern Louisiana. The rain led to widespread flooding across the Lower Mississippi Valley. Across the rest of the East, mainly dry conditions with plenty of sunshine was in place, but scattered thunderstorms developed across the Southeast to the Florida Peninsula and the Carolinas yesterday afternoon. Rainfall was rather light, generally in the 0.25 inch or less range.

In the central United States yesterday, a cold front pushed into the northern and central Plains, producing numerous thunderstorms from North Dakota into Nebraska. Several severe thunderstorms developed in the Nebraska Panhandle yesterday. Hail one inch in diameter fell in Box Butte County in Nebraska, while Scotts Bluff County experienced 60 to 70 mph wind gusts. Thunderstorms pushed into northwestern Minnesota yesterday evening. Rainfall was generally 0.25 to 0.75 inches, but several locations in the Dakotas and northwestern Minnesota received over one inch of rain. Elsewhere, isolated showers and thunderstorms occurred in western Texas; rainfall totals were rather light. Fair weather prevailed across the western Great Lakes yesterday.

In the West yesterday, rain and high elevation snow affected the northern Rockies behind a powerful cold front. The snow showers across western Montana early yesterday morning led to accumulations of 1 to 3 inches with the highest reported snow amount of 6 inches at the Copper Camp Snotel observation site near Lincoln, Montana. Nearly all of the snow showers ended or changed over to rain showers during the mid morning hours. Rainfall was generally in the 0.25 to 0.75 inch range yesterday. Unseasonably cold temperatures occurred across much of Montana, with many locations experiencing highs only in the 40s yesterday.

WEATHER EXTREMES FOR YESTERDAY:

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)............103 Indio, CA

.............................................. Thermal, CA

HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F).............107 El Centro, CA

LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)..............26 Truckee, CA

LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)...............14 Evanston, WY

HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH)....................117 Southwest Pass, LA

HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)............3.75 Biloxi, MS

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY:

In 1935, the Labor Day Hurricane struck the Florida Keys. The barometric pressure measured at Long Key, Florida was 26.35 inches of mercury when the hurricane moved through, which was the second lowest pressure ever recorded in the United States.

In 1950, the high temperature at Mecca, California reached 126 degrees. This was the highest temperature ever recorded in the United States during the month of September.

In 1961, 4.2 inches of snow fell in Denver, Colorado. This was the earliest measurable snow that ever fell in the city. DTN-Meteorlogix

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