National Weather Summary: Heavy Precipitation In The Northwest, Warm On The Northern Plains
11/24/2009 11:41AM
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Highlights: A series of cold fronts slammed into the Pacific Northwest, generating heavy precipitation and high winds. However, only light precipitation fell east of the Cascades. In southern California and the Southwest, dry weather favored cotton harvesting and other autumn fieldwork.
Meanwhile on the northern Plains, unusually warm, dry conditions promoted winter wheat development and summer crop harvesting. Some rain and snow fell on the central Plains, but dry weather across the remainder of the Nation's mid-section favored harvest activities for crops such as corn, cotton, and sorghum. Farther east, wet weather returned to the middle Mississippi Valley, hampering corn and late-season soybean harvesting. Across the upper Midwest, however, fieldwork advanced with few delays. Elsewhere, scattered showers caused only minor fieldwork delays from the Delta into the Southeast, while late-week rain developed in the western Gulf Coast region. In southern Texas, the rain fell in areas still suffering from lingering hydrological drought. Weekly temperatures averaged at least 10 degrees Fahrenheit above normal across the Nation's northern tier from northern Montana to northern Maine. Unusual warmth also covered much of the Corn Belt, where readings ranged from 2 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. In contrast, near- to below-normal temperatures prevailed from California into the Southeast.
Chilly conditions persisted early in the week across the Southwest, where daily-record lows for November 16 included 4 degrees Fahrenheit in Springerville, Arizona, and 7 degrees Fahrenheit in Roosevelt, Utah. The following day, however, record-setting warmth arrived across the northern High Plains and the Northwest. Records for November 17 reached 71 degrees Fahrenheit in Havre, Montana, and 67 degrees Fahrenheit in Walla Walla, Washington. Havre posted another daily-record high (65 degrees Fahrenheit) on November 20. At week's end, however, cool conditions returned to the Far West, where the Oakland Airport in central California registered a daily-record low of 38 degrees Fahrenheit on November 21. Farther east, Rochester, Minnesota, experienced its warmest November 1-21 period since 2001. During the first 3 weeks of November, Rochester's average temperature of 44.0 degrees Fahrenheit was more than 10 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. During the same period, Rochester's precipitation totaled just 0.14 inch (less than 10 percent of normal).
Heavy rain subsided by Sunday in New England, where Portland, Maine (5.03 inches on November 14), had experienced its wettest November day on record (previously, 4.70 inches on November 10, 1990). Farther west, heavy precipitation hammered the Pacific Northwest. Weekly rainfall totaled 14.91 inches in Quillayute, Washington, aided by a daily-record total of 3.31 inches on November 16. Similarly in Oregon, more than one-third (2.71 inches) of Astoria's 7.31-inch weekly total fell on November 16. Snow fell at higher elevations, with a late-week depth of 91 inches reported at Timberline Lodge on the slopes of Oregon's Mt. Hood. High winds accompanied the precipitation, resulting in a gust to 92 miles per hour on November 16 on the Oregon coast at Cape Blanco. Two days later, a gust to 107 miles per hour was clocked at an automated weather station in western Washington's Olympic Mountains on Hurricane Ridge. Meanwhile, a slow-moving storm dropped snow on parts of the central Plains and unwelcome rain in the central Corn Belt. November 13-15 snowfall totals reached 9.3 inches in Denver, Colorado, and 6.5 inches in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Concordia, Kansas, received a daily-record snowfall (3.5 inches) on November 16. Daily-record rainfall totals for November 16 included 1.72 inches in St. Louis, Missouri, and 1.53 inches in Ottumwa, Iowa. By November 19, heavy rain shifted into the East, where Buffalo, NY (1.49 inches), netted a daily-record sum. Toward week's end, a separate area of heavy rain developed over the western Gulf Coast region and drifted northeastward. On November 20, daily-record amounts in Texas reached 2.45 inches in both Galveston and Corpus Christi. In Rockport, Texas, rainfall totaled 9.94 inches in a 24-hour period on November 19-20.
Bitterly cold, dry air settled across the Alaskan mainland, where Bettles notched five daily-record lows during the week. Bettles' lowest reading, -47 degrees Fahrenheit, occurred on November 21. Other daily records included -20 degrees Fahrenheit (on November 17) in King Salmon and -38 degrees Fahrenheit (on November 20) in McGrath. Alaskan weekly temperatures averaged more than 30 degrees Fahrenheit below normal in a few locations. Snow blanketed parts of the Aleutian Islands, where Cold Bay (3.3 inches) received a daily-record amount for November 20. Farther south, heavy rain subsided in Hawaii, although Hilo (on the Big Island) received an additional 5.15 inches during the week. Hilo's November 1-21 rainfall reached 19.11 inches (174 percent of normal).