Showers and thunderstorms diminished across the East Coast on Wednesday as a strong cold front moved offshore and into the Atlantic Ocean.
The system that brought heavy rainfall and strong winds to most of the Eastern Seaboard on Tuesday as moved offshore. Some coastal areas saw showers linger through Wednesday morning. To the South, the tail end of this front lingered over Florida, which produced more shower and thunderstorm activity.
Severe storms did not develop across Florida. Behind this strong cold front, high pressure built over the Eastern Valleys. This brought cooler and drier conditions to the Eastern half of the nation. High temperatures ranged in the 60s and 70s across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, which are about 10 to 15 degrees below seasonable.
Further west, a low pressure system pushed a cold front through the Upper Midwest and into the Great Lakes. This brought cool and rainy conditions to the region. Frost and freeze advisories were in effect overnight and into the early morning hours as lows dipped into the upper 20s. Dry conditions behind this system maintained dangerous fire weather conditions for the Northern Rockies and Northern Plains.
Meanwhile, the West Coast saw another sunny and dry day as high pressure dominated. Coastal areas saw cool and foggy conditions as a low pressure system off the coast of the Pacific Northwest allowed for onshore flow to persist..
WEDNESDAY'S WEATHER EXTREMES:
HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F).........................102 Palm Springs, Calif.
HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F)..........................102 Cocoa Beach, Fla.
LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)..........................26 Stanley, Idaho
LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)...........................12 Mt. Washington, N.H.
HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH).................................67 Portage Glacier, Alaska
HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)..........................2.35 Portage Glacier, Alaska
ON THIS DATE....... Another busy hurricane season for the eastern seaboard was 1955. The third hurricane in 5 weeks hit North Carolina on this date. Marysville, NC received 16.63 inches of rain and 40 blocks of New Bern, NC were underwater due to the storm.
The Associated Press