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[July 20, 2010] (AP) Scattered showers and thunderstorms were forecast to persist across the North, while the Southeast would remain hot and humid.

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A trough of low pressure in the Northeast would continue pushing offshore and into the Atlantic Ocean, but another trough would follow close behind and develop over the upper Midwest. As this trough moved into the Great Lakes, the systems would create a stationary frontal boundary that would extend from the Northeast, down the Ohio River Valley, over the mid-Mississippi River Valley and into the central Plains. Warm and humid conditions moving in from the Gulf of Mexico would allow for scattered thunderstorms to pop up anywhere along this front. Periods of heavy rainfall were also anticipated; thus, the region would remain at high risk for flooding. This system was capable of producing severe storms with golf-ball-size hail, damaging winds with gusts up to 70 mph and heavy precipitation with rainfall totals ranging between 1-2 inches.

South of this front would remain extremely hot and humid. High pressure in the Mid-Atlantic Ocean would continue pushing ample moisture over the Southeast from the Gulf of Mexico. These were favorable conditions for afternoon thunderstorm development, which forecasters said may bring some heavy rain, but severe weather is not likely.

Out West, a ridge of high pressure would allow for sunny skies and mild weather to persist over the West Coast. However, the monsoonal moisture would continue pushing into the Southwestern U.S., allowing for afternoon high-level storms to develop over Arizona and New Mexico.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Monday ranged from a low of 35 degrees at Stanley, Idaho, to a high of 123 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.

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[Associated Press article from Weather Underground]