US

Weather Underground midday recap for Wednesday, July 23, 2008.

Dolly strengthened to a category two hurricane on Wednesday and made landfall north of Brownsville, Texas. The area saw heavy rains and strong winds, with South Padre Island, Texas reporting 0.84 inches of rain in one hour with 49 mph sustained winds. The hurricane produced a tornado which was spotted in San Patrico county on the Gulf Coast of Texas. The tornado uprooted a few trees, collapsed three sheds, and blew an RV on its side.

To the north, a low pressure system over New England has produced a cold front that extended along the East Coast and south of the Ohio River Valley and into the Central Plains on Wednesday. The front triggered showers and thunderstorms as it moved southeastward, while some storms turned severe. Hail fell for 5 minutes in Fairlawn, Virginia and 60 mph winds maxed out a sensor in Gates, North Carolina.

Over the Northern Plains, another low pressure system has developed and has produced a warm front that extended into Minnesota and a cold front that extends southward into Wyoming. Both fronts have triggered showers and thunderstorms along their paths, non of which have become severe.

The West Coast saw drier conditions and clear skies on Wednesday with the exception of monsoon storms over the Southwest. High showers and thunderstorms persisted and continued to cause flooding problems in many areas of New Mexico.



Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Wednesday have ranged from a morning low of 32 degrees at Truckee-Tahoe, Calif to a midday high of 102 degrees at Needles, Calif.