The Nation's Weather

National Weather Summary for Monday, August 04, 2008

NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY:

Across the East, an upper level low produced scattered showers and embedded thunderstorms across much of New England back into portions of the Northeast. Some rains were locally heavy and caused some minor flooding, mainly of small creeks and streams. A few storms in eastern Massachusetts produced penny to nickel sized hail, with winds downing a few trees and power poles. Showers and thunderstorms also fired up in the afternoon hours across the Deep South and southern Carolinas along a stalling frontal boundary. A few trees were reported as broken in South Carolina, with some brief downpours elsewhere. Florida also saw afternoon thunderstorm activity, but it was not overly intense with a dry air mass moving in overhead. Dry conditions held for the Ohio Valley, central and eastern Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic and Tennessee Valley.

The central portions of the country again stole the stage with lots of active weather. Oppressive heat across the southern Plains and into Texas broke a few records and created hazardous heat index readings. Urban areas were also warned of dangerous air qualities as well. But some relief was found in the way of strong to severe thunderstorms across the Ozarks, Mississippi Delta and eastern Texas. Large hail was the mode-of-fair for Arkansas with nickel to quarter sized hail reported across the region. Winds roared from storms in Texas and Louisiana with a report of numerous trees and power poles down. Strong storms also formed across the western plains in the afternoon hours, with gusts estimated to near 80 mph near Akron, Colorado. The storms, however, carried no rain and a lot of dust and sand. Mid-day storms across the Upper Mississippi Valley and western Great Lakes, with nickel to quarter sized hail in Minnesota and strong wind gusts in Wisconsin. The eastern and northern Plains, as well as the mid-Mississippi Valley remained under fair conditions through the day.

Monsoonal moisture lead to scattered showers and thunderstorms from the Rockies of Colorado down through the eastern deserts of California. Storms were strong enough to partially blow a roof off a house near Sells, Arizona, injuring 2 residents. Torrential rains in eastern California caused pockets of flash flooding in burn areas and wind gusts to near 60 mph. Another piece of upper-level energy moved through Montana, sparking off some showers and thunderstorms in the late evening hours. No severe weather was reported with that activity. Another hot and dry day overtook the Great Basin and Intermountains, with continued dry and fair conditions across the non-desert areas of California and all of the Pacific Northwest.

WEATHER EXTREMES FOR YESTERDAY:

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

HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F).............106 Bartlesville, OK

LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)..............29 Meacham, OR

LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)...............29 Meacham, OR

HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH).....................80 Akron, CO

HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)............2.95 Portland, ME

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY:

In 1930, the all-time record high temperature for the state of West Virginia was recorded with a reading of 112 at Moorfield, West Virginia.

In 1980, Dallas, Texas, finally remained under 100 after a string of 42 straight days of above 100 degree temperatures. It was in the middle of a heat wave that claimed 1200 lives across the nation and caused $200 million of losses.

In 1998, Dallas, Texas, again ended a 29-day streak of 100-plus days.

DTN-Meteorlogix/S Dumblauskas

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