The Nation's Weather 10.24.08

By WEATHER UNDERGROUND

Rain stretched from the Great Lakes and Midwest to Florida early Friday, while the deep South and West were to be calm and clear.

The rainy storm system over the central Plains will continue to weaken as it moves eastward on Friday. The system will advance over the mid-Mississippi Valley for the majority of the day.

By late Friday evening, the storms were to reach the Great Lakes regions and will extend southward over areas of the eastern Gulf Coast.

Showers and thunderstorms are expected to flare up along the eastern Gulf Coast. Temperatures across the Great Lakes and the mid- to upper Mississippi Valleys will range from the 40s to 50s. The Southeast will see warm conditions with temperatures in the 60s to 70s.

The Northeast will remain dry as high pressure will move slowly across the East Coast. Temperatures across the New England states will remain cool, reaching into the 50s to 60s.

In the West, high pressure will keep conditions dry and warm. Warm temperatures coupled with low humidity will cause critical fire weather conditions to persist across areas of southern California. Temperatures across the Northwest will range in the 50s to 60s. The Southwest will see temperatures ranging from the 60s to 90s.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Thursday ranged from a low of 1 degrees at Berthoud Pass, Colo., to a high of 99 degrees at Santee, Calif.