US

Weather Underground midday recap for Thursday, July 02, 2009.

New England and the Northeast saw another day of damp and dreary weather on Thursday. A low pressure system that lingered over the Great Lakes region pulled moisture onshore from the Atlantic, and allowed for widespread scattered showers to persist over the Northeast and stretched down the East Coast into the Mid-Atlantic States. Hail has been reported in Barnstable, Massachusetts, while strong winds blew down a tree in Chilmark, Massachusetts. Light and constant rain fell over Pensylvania and New York, while heavy rainfall with a total of 1.68 inches reported in Taunton, Massachusetts. Most of the region saw cooler than usual conditions with highs in the 60s, while mostly cloudy skies and seasonable temperatures with highs in the 80s and 90s extended down the East Coast. A stationary front produced by this low pressure system extended into the Southeast on Thursday. Warm and humid conditions along the Gulf of Mexico allowed for scattered shower and thunderstorm development in Florida. A waterspout was witnessed over Marco Island, Florida.

Meanwhile in the Plains, a low pressure system developed over the Central Rockies and pulled moisture over the Central US. These conditions produced an area of storms that tracked through the Northern Rockies and into the Dakotas, and brought light rain with some severe weather with it. Hail and 60 mph winds were reported in Silver City, South Dakota.

Further west, a ridge of high pressure over the West Coast allowed for seasonably warm conditions with mostly sunny skies on Thursday. Highs reached into the mid-80s in the Pacific Northwest, while the Southwest approached 100 in most places.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday have ranged from a morning low of 33 degrees at Pontiac, IL to a midday high of 103 degrees at Hearne, Texas.