The most active weather in the country Friday was due to a cold front that moved southward and stretched from Oklahoma through the Southeast by the late afternoon.
Moisture along this front instigated areas of heavy rain and thunderstorms from New Mexico through Tennessee. Some of these thunderstorms were quite strong and dumped significant rain on the area.
A high pressure system to the north of this front allowed dry conditions to persist from the Northern Plains through the Northeast. This dry weather will precede very active weather in the Plains and Upper Midwest on Saturday as a storm races out of the Rockies and into the region.
Meanwhile, some light to moderate rain fell in New England as a front moved through that region.
In the West, scattered showers and a few thunderstorms developed in the Southwest and Great Basin, remnants of the heavy rain that moved through the area Thursday.
Farther to the north, a weak Pacific system provided a few showers in Washington and Oregon.
The Northeast rose into the 40s and 50s, while the Southeast saw temperatures in the 70s and 80s for the most part. The Northwest will see temperatures in the 50s and 60s, while the Southwest will rise into the 60s, 70s, and some 80s.
FRIDAY'S WEATHER EXTREMES:
HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F).........................95 Weslaco, Texas
HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F)..........................100 Brownsville, Texas
LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)..........................14 Granite Falls, Minn.
LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)...........................-9 Mt. Washington, N.H.
HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH).................................74 Mt. Washington, N.H.
HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)..........................2.41 Rogers, Ark.
ON THIS DATE....... The Columbus Day Big Blow occurred on this date in 1962 in the Pacific Northwest. It is most likely the more severe and damaging windstorm to occur west of the Cascade Mountains. Winds reached hurricane force in some areas and more than 3.5 billion board feet of timber were blown down. In the end, 48 people died and the storm caused $210 million in damage.
The Associated Press