D
ue to ample moisture feeding this system from the Gulf of Mexico, heavy storms with strong winds, large hail and possibly tornadoes were forecast in the south along the cold front. More than an inch of rainfall was forecast along the Gulf states, Tennessee and Kentucky, while the Midwest, Central, and Northern Plains were expected to see between a quarter and a half of an inch of rain, up to an inch in areas of thunderstorm development.
Temperatures in the North were forecast to reach into the 60s, while the South was expected to remain in the 70s and 80s.
East of this system, increasingly cloudy skies were expected over the East Coast as the low approached. The center of the low was forecast to reach the Great Lakes by evening, pushing some light, scattered showers into New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.
A ridge of high pressure was expected to dominate in the West on Saturday, bringing plenty of sunshine with warm conditions over most of California.
Scattered showers with snow in high elevations was forecast in the Pacific Northwest as a small trough of low pressure pushed onshore from the Pacific Ocean.
Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Friday ranged from a low of 17 degrees at Monarch Pass, Colo. to a high of 95 degrees at Laredo, Texas.
