NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY: Friday, July 25, 2008

Another day of heavy rains and some isolated damaging winds moved across the Northeast and New England regions of the country on Thursday. A string of high winds stretched across New Hampshire and Maine, killing one person in Deerfield, New Hampshire. Numerous reports of trees and power poles down, as well as up to 100 houses destroyed in the city of Epsom, New Hampshire. Heavy rains complicated any rescue and recovery efforts, flooding streets under 1-2 inches of rainfall. Hartford, Connecticut reported 2.71 inches of rain today with 2.76 inches of rain in Concord, New Hampshire. Other areas were between 1 and 2 inches all the way back to New Jersey, with small to medium sized hail falling in Pennsylvania. Afternoon showers and thunderstorms also formed across Florida and the Gulf Coast through the daytime hours with a report of a 45 mph wind gust near Sebring, Florida. Dry conditions held fast for the majority of the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, as well as the Carolinas and southern portions of the Mid-Atlantic.

A complex of showers and thunderstorms produced heavy rains across portions of the mid-Mississippi Valley during the afternoon hours. A few reports of high winds and a single storm producing nearly three-quarters of an inch of rain in 30 minutes were associated with the activity. Another day of rain and wind pounded the southern tip of Texas as the remains of Dolly marched slowly to the west. Areas of flooding and flash flooding were reported, with a few roads inundated under water. On the north side of the rains, a few weak tornadoes were able to form with some damage to a car port near Poth, Texas. Late day showers and thunderstorms in the western Plains produced some small hail and high winds. Dry conditions held across the western Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi Valley, as well as the Ozarks and Oklahoma, which saw a second day of excessive heat.

Monsoonal storms were late to fire across the western states today under an advancing ridge of hot air. However, some storms did become strong to severe in the late evening hours, with reports of hail and high winds. Rains were also able to induce some local pockets of flooding, but the sheer lack of storms held a lot of impacts to a minimum. Dry conditions held for the majority of the Great Basin, California and the Pacific Northwest.

WEATHER EXTREMES FOR YESTERDAY:

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)............120 Death Valley, CA

HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F).............109 Bartlesville, OK

LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)..............31 Meacham, OR

LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)...............18 Hoopa, CA

HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH).....................76 Port Mansfield, TX

HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)...........12.00 San Manuel, TX

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY:

In 1891, the temperature in Los Angeles, California hit 109 degrees in the middle of an oppressive heat wave.

In 1956, dense fog caused the collision between the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm 45 miles off the Massachusetts coast. Fifty-two people were drowned or killed on impact.

In 1987, the mercury reaches 91 at Beckley, West Virginia, tying the all time record high for the city. It was in the middle of a streak of 4 days of 90+ temperatures in a city that had only hit 90 twice before that in the city's history.

DTN-Meteorlogix

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