The Nations Weather

A fairly intense low pressure system moving across the Southeast on Wednesday brought high winds, heavy rains and lightning from the Carolinas into Florida. Rainfall averaged over half an inch in most areas, with some places receiving over 2 inches of rain throughout the day. Winds both in and out of thunderstorms caused numerous trees and power poles to become damaged, with major power outages caused in northern Florida. Storms that formed on the northern edge of the low pressure system in West Virginia and Virginia were also strong enough to produce areas of quarter-sized hail and wind gusts to 60mph. Afternoon hours brought yet another round of showers and thunderstorms to the Northeast, as well as the introduction of showers and storms to the Ohio Valley. Some storms produced nickel-sized hail and strong winds, but main the impact in the afternoon hours was from lightning. Dry conditions held in the wake of the low pressure system across the Tennessee Valley and the western reaches of the Deep South.

Afternoon showers and thunderstorms were also found across the Upper Mississippi Valley and western Great Lakes. Storms in western Minnesota and western Iowa produced numerous areas of hail, some of which reached 2 inches in diameter. Most of the storms died down after the dinner rush hour, but storms in Iowa persisted through the early overnight hours. A late firing of storms in the western Plains progressed into severe storms across much of Nebraska and eastern Colorado. Tornadoes were reported across the area, but no reports of damage were associated with them. Hail and high winds, however, did produce some damage through the storm paths, with some power outages reported. The Panhandle country of Texas had a few storms move over in the latter half of the day, with wind gusts up to 73 mph reported near Amherst, TX. Isolated showers moved across the far northern Plains, with dry conditions across the Ozarks, Mississippi Delta and the majority of Texas and Oklahoma.

The monsoons were the main weather story in the western third of the country with scattered showers and thunderstorms firing up across the Desert Southwest. Some stronger storms were capable of producing high wind gusts in eastern New Mexico, with a few reports of flooding also reported in the heavier storms. Cool weather was reported across Montana as an upper low slowly progressed out of Canada, with the remainder of the western states were under fair skies and hot temperatures.

WEATHER EXTREMES FOR YESTERDAY:

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)............121 Death Valley, CA

HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F).............105 Laredo, TX

LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)..............30 Shirley Basin, WY

LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)...............30 Shirley Basin, WY

HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH).....................83 Hill City, KS

HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)............2.20 Tallahassee, FL

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY:

In 1936, Kansas City, Missouri reported a high of 113 degrees in the middle of a streak of 16 consecutive days of 100+ degree days.

In 1980, Dallas, Texas, reported its 53rd 100 degree or better day, setting the all-time record for 100+ degree days in a year.

In 1988, the water temperature of Lake Erie (recorded at Buffalo, New York) reached 80 degrees.

DTN-Meteorlogix

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