Saturday afternoon, March 16, 2013

A front brought rain to the Central Plains through the Mid-Mississippi River Valley, while a weak trough produced rain and snow for the Upper Ohio River Valley and Northeast on Saturday. A low pressure system that triggered snow over the Great Lakes and Midwest on Friday has advanced eastward up the Ohio River Valley and into the Northeast. Cooler temperatures along the northern side of this system allowed for snow showers to move from the Great Lakes into the Northeast, while warmer temperatures to the south brought rain showers to the Ohio Valley and the Virginias. High elevations of the Central Appalachians saw a dusting of snow.

Meanwhile in the West, a trough of low pressure moved off the Northern and Central Rockies and into the High Plains. This triggered scattered snow showers and strong winds from Montana through Colorado. In between these two systems, a frontal boundary developed in the Plains and produced rain showers across the Central Plains, with some areas in Nebraska seeing a mix of freezing rain and even some snow showers. As these systems pulled the front eastward throughout the day, precipitation spread into the Mid-Mississippi River Valley. Farther west, a trough of low pressure over British Columbia pulled a cold front onshore that brought plenty of moisture into the Pacific Northwest. This allowed for rain and snow showers to spread across western Oregon and Washington.

SATURDAY'S WEATHER EXTREMES:

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F).........................91 Pecos, Texas

HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F)..........................92 Falfurrias, Texas

LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)..........................-18 Rugby, N.D.

LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)...........................-39 Point Lay, Alaska

HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH).................................63 Mt. Washington, N.H.

HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)..........................0.46 Mt. Washington, N.H.

ON THIS DATE....... A possible hurricane sank three United States and two German warships on this date in 1889 in the Apia, Samoa, harbor while the ships were in battle. The Treaty of Berlin was signed later as the two countries were in the middle of rescue operations.