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 This storm system will continue pulling abundant moisture in from the Gulf of Mexico, spreading heavy rains and strong thunderstorms across the mid-Mississippi River valley and Ohio River valley. There is a slight chance of severe weather developing with strong winds and large hail across the region.
The heaviest rainfall is expected to move across Missouri and into Illinois on Saturday afternoon and into the evening hours. Rainfall totals will range from 3 to 4 inches, with higher amounts possible in some areas. Lighter and more widespread showers will stretch from eastern Kansas and Oklahoma, into Ohio and West Virginia.
Elsewhere in the nation, a low pressure trough over the northern Rockies will begin to advance eastward, pushing a front into the high Plains and northern Plains. This will bring a slight chance of thunderstorm activity to the region.
Meanwhile, monsoonal moisture will linger over the Southwest and the Rockies, maintaining chances of afternoon showers and thunderstorms. To the south, Hurricane Ileana is expected to drop to a tropical storm on Saturday with winds between 39 and 73 mph as it continues spinning northwestward over the Pacific away from Mexico's Baja California region. Moisture associated with this system will make its way north up the West Coast, increasing clouds and chances of showers for far northwestern Mexico and extreme southern California.
Temperatures in the Lower 48 states ranged Friday from a morning low of 30 degrees at Stanley, Idaho, to a high of 102 at Del Rio, Texas.
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