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[December 11, 2010]  (AP)  A low pressure system was expected to strengthen Saturday as it moved over the central U.S. and into the Ohio Valley.

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The system was forecast to start the day over the upper Midwest and slowly track over the Mississippi River and up the Ohio River Valley. Flow around the system was expected to create a frontal boundary including both a warm front extending eastward and a cold front stretching down the Mississippi River.

Periods of heavy precipitation were expected to develop along this front, including heavy snow over the upper Midwest and Great Lakes, and heavy rains in Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee and Kentucky. Forecasters anticipated between a half-inch and an inch of rain, and between 4 and 8 inches of snow across the upper Midwest throughout the day.

Strong winds were forecast to develop along the back side of the system causing blizzard-like conditions of blowing snow, with wind gusts reaching to 30 mph across the Dakotas and Minnesota.

In the East, the low pressure system in the North was expected to continue tracking northeastward into Hudson Bay. That could cause a short break in wet conditions across the Northeast and New England, as one system moved away and another approached from the west.

In the South, a mild trough of low pressure hovering over the Carolinas was expected to pick up moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and spread scattered showers onshore.

In the western U.S., another trough of low pressure was forecast to bring rainy conditions to the Pacific Northwest. More low-level rain was expected, with high-elevation snow in the Cascades. Snow levels across eastern Oregon and Washington were expected at 7,000 or 8,000 feet Saturday afternoon.

On Friday, temperatures in the Lower 48 states ranged from a morning low of minus 15 degrees at Saranac Lake, N.Y., to a high of 81 degrees at Edinburg, Texas.

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[Associated Press article from Weather Underground]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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