The Nation's Weather 12.27.08

By WEATHER UNDERGROUND

A major storm was developing in the East on Saturday.

The storm was to track eastward through the Upper Midwest and into the Great Lakes. Its associated cold front was to sweep through the Southern Plains and Mississippi Valley while producing significant rain, thunderstorms, and possible tornadoes. The heaviest rain was to be noticed in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Cool rain showers were to turn to snow in the Great Lakes through Saturday and into Sunday.

The storm was to mark a definite line of relatively warm air in the eastern third of the country and cold air to the west.

Along the West Coast, another Pacific storm was to slam into the Northwest, instigating more significant rain and high elevation snow. The precipitation was to gradually spread inland to the Intermountain West and southward into California. Snow showers in the Southern Rockies were to gradually wane as the day progressed.

Temperatures were to be in the 40s and 50s in the Northeast; 60s and 70s in the Southeast; 10s and 20s in the Northern Plains; and 30s and 40s in the Northwest.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Friday ranged from a low of minus 23 degrees at Clayton Lake, Maine, to a high of 88 degrees at Cotulla, Texas.