Area Weather

NATIONAL SUMMARY                   
 
--Another storm was pummeling the Pacific Northwest on Thursday with 
high winds, heavy rain, battering waves and mountain snow. While 
winds were not quite as strong as they were with the early week 
storm, wind gusts between 60-70 mph were frequent in coastal areas of 
Washington and Oregon. The winds caused damage like downing trees. A 
Washington State Transportation Department employee was killed on 
Thursday when he was hit by a falling tree limb. He was working to 
clear a slide on U.S. Highway 101 near Port Angeles, Wash. Another 
man working for a private contractor was also killed by a falling 
tree in Stanwood, Wash. Heavy rainfall on top of already saturated 
soils (the recent storm train has dumped a foot of rain in a week 
over some communities) was creating more flooding. Some of the areas 
rivers were overflowing onto nearby roads. Meanwhile, the heaviest 
snow was falling over the northern Cascades, where travel is shut 
down for the rest of the season. Up to a foot of snow had fallen over 
the Washington Cascades through Thursday afternoon. Areas of high 
pressure kept the Southwest, the Plains and the Southeast dry. By 
late in the day, a storm moved into Texas and began spreading 
torrential rain and storms into the Gulf coast of Texas. Another 
storm spinning over the upper Great Lakes brought showery weather to 
the region. More showers and storms were soaking areas from the Ohio 
Valley into the mid-Atlantic by late on Thursday as the storm's cold 
front swept from west to east across these regions.
 
 
 
SPECIAL WEATHER                    
 
Storm Dumps Snow in Midwest, Ravages South with Severe Storms:
 
--A dynamic autumn storm hurled snow over the northern Midwest and 
triggered violent thunderstorms from the Ohio Valley to the Gulf 
coast. Rochester, Minn., got 5 inches of snow. Mason City, Iowa, had 
4 inches of slippery snow. Meanwhile, storms were sparked along the 
system's cold front as moist air was drawn in from the Gulf of 
Mexico. Tornadoes skipped across parts of Arkansas, causing 
considerable damage. Sixteen people were hospitalized when a tornado 
tore through Moro and Oak Forest, Ark., in Lee County. Funnel clouds 
were sighted at night in the Memphis area. Hail also pounded 
Evansville, Ind.                   
 
 
 
WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS BY ACCU WEATHER 
 
Northwest Snowfall Totals through Thursday Afternoon:
 
-7 miles NNW of Easton, Wash.: 11.0 inches
-9 miles W of Springdale, Wash.: 5.5 inches
-3 miles SW of Clayton, Wash.: 4.2 inches
-5 miles NE of Northport, Wash.: 2.5 inches
-9 miles NNE of Metaline Falls, Wash.: 2.5 inches
-12 miles N of Leavenworth, Wash.: 2.5 inches
-4 miles NNE of Loon Lake, Wash.: 2.0 inches
-7 miles NNW of Coolin, Idaho: 2.0 inches
-2 miles WNW of Deer Park, Wash.: 1.5 inches
-4 miles N of Republic, Wash.: 1.3 inches
 
-Buffalo, N.Y., had 1.49 inches of rain, breaking the record of 1.24 
inches set in 1876.                
 
 
24-Hour Rainfall Totals, as of 2 A.M. EST Friday:
 
Rockport, Texas      7.52"                              
Forks, Wash.         4.37"                              
Shelton, Wash.       2.21"                              
Hoquiam, Wash.       2.17"                              
Charlottesville, Va. 2.16"                              
Quillayute, Wash.    1.88"                              
Port Angeles, Wash.  1.73"                              
Buffalo, N.Y.        1.57"                              
Astoria, Ore.        1.41"                              
Mount Pocono, Pa.    1.29"                              
Clearfield, Pa.      1.24"                              
Bremerton, Wash.     1.17"                              
Quantico, Va.        1.11"                              
Williamsport, Pa.    0.97"                              
Coatesville, Pa.     0.94"                              
Reading, Pa.         0.93"                              
Niagara Falls, N.Y.  0.89"                              
Selinsgrove, Pa.     0.85"                              
Olympia, Wash.       0.85"                              
Jamestown, N.Y.      0.83"                              
Gaithersburg, Md.    0.81"                              
Syracuse, N.Y.       0.81"                              
Binghamton, N.Y.     0.79"                              
Scappoose, Ore.      0.77"                              
 
 
 
DAILY EXTREMES                     
 
National High Yesterday 86 at Indio, California
 
National Low  Yesterday -2 at Laramie, Wyoming
 
 
 
         COPYRIGHT 2009 ACCUWEATHER, INC 

Today in Weather History

Copyright AccuWeather, Inc. 2009
All Rights Reserved
 
NOVEMBER 20

PLACE              YEAR                  EVENT
_________________________________________________________________________
New England        1798    Heavy snow with high winds; great damage to
                           vessels on coast; many killed. Houses
                           "buried in snow" -- tunnels needed to get
                           out.

Chicago, IL        1985    November precipitation record: 7.65 inches 
                           (old record of 6.95 inches set in 1982).
                           Note: November 1985 ended up with a total of
			   8.22 inches in city of Chicago.