LDN - Weather

The nation's weather

[September 01, 2010] (AP) Hurricane Earl was expected to rapidly approach the East Coast on Wednesday, but conditions shouldn't begin to deteriorate along North Carolina's Outer Banks until sometime Thursday.

(Click on map for larger image.)

Earl was expected to just scrape by the Outer Banks, not making a direct hit, but would bring sustained winds of tropical storm force along with hurricane-force gusts to the islands into Friday. Residents and visitors to the North Carolina coast and especially the Outer Banks were urged to watch the approaching storm diligently and heed any evacuation orders issued by authorities. In addition to the foul weather, large swells had begun to affect beaches along the coast and would continue to increase through the day Thursday. These swells were especially dangerous as they are powerful and intermittent. Long lulls in wave activity would be followed by sets of three or more waves that can catch swimmers and beachgoers off guard. In addition, these swells would most likely cause strong rip tides to form along the beaches from Florida to New England.

Elsewhere in the country, a trough pushing through the Midwest would bring wet weather to the region as well as cooler weather to the Plains. Most of the precipitation associated with this system would stay east of the Mississippi, while clear skies abound in the Plains and West. West of the Rockies, high pressure would push ashore, bringing warm temperatures and above normal temperatures.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Tuesday ranged from a low of 24 degrees at Truckee-Tahoe, Calif., to a high of 104 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.

___

Online:

Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com/

National Weather Service:
http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/

Intellicast:
http://www.intellicast.com/

[Associated Press article from Weather Underground]