US

Weather Underground midday recap for Friday, May 16, 2008. A low pressure system moved over the Appalachians and into the Mid-Atlantic before it moved into the Atlantic Ocean in the late afternoon. This feature produced significant early morning rain in the Ohio Valley and more rain in southern New England into the late afternoon.

The storm's associated cold front draped southward to the Gulf Coast. A tremendous amount of Gulf of Mexico moisture pooled along the cold front along the Gulf Coast and instigated heavy rain and thunderstorms from Louisiana to the panhandle of Florida.

Elsewhere, the southern edge of a low pressure system produced scattered areas of light rain in the Great Lakes.

In the West, a monstrous ridge of high pressure continued to bake the West Coast. Temperatures rose into the 90s and triple digits in California and into the 80s and 90s in the Northwest. Some records were once again expected to fall for the second straight day.

The Northeast rose into the 50s and 60s, while the Southeast saw temperatures in the 70s and 80s. The Plains saw temperatures in the 70s and 80s, while the Southwest saw temperatures in the 80s and 90s.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Friday have ranged from a morning low of 17 degrees at Copper Mountain, Colo. to a midday high of 100 degrees at Lemoore, Calif.