Hurricane Ida intensified at one of the fastest rates on record, and plowed ashore this morning in central Nicaragua as a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds. It took just 24 hours from when the first advisory was issued for Tropical Depression Eleven until Ida reached hurricane strength. Since reliable satellite measurements
Weather Underground midday recap for Thursday, November 05, 2009.
Generally quiet weather was reported across the nation on Thursday as high pressure remained in control of the heartland. Few to no clouds were present anywhere from the Ohio Valley to the Rockies, and temperatures throughout the middle of the nation were more reminiscent of late Summer than the beginning of November. High temperatures rose into the 70s as far north as Montana, where a high of 71 degrees missed the record for the day by only 5 degrees, and was a whopping 24 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year.
Despite the large swath of pleasant weather over the country, the Northeast and Northwest both saw precipitation on Thursday.
In the Northeast, a warm front swung down from a storm in Canada and triggered showers and a few thunderstorms throughout the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions. Precipitation was generally light, and few locations saw more than a tenth of an inch of accumulation.
Rainfall in the Northwest was somewhat heavier in some favored locations of the Cascade Mountains, with about a half an inch falling in remote locations.
Precipitation was felt across much of western Washington and Oregon as a cold front associated with a strong Pacific approached the coast.
Clouds developed ahead of this cold front, but didn't produce much precipitation over California and the Intermountain region of the West.
Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday have ranged from a morning low of 12 degrees at Mt. Washington, N.H. to a midday high of 93 degrees at Williams Gateway Airport, Ariz.
Death Valley National Park received over half of its average annual rainfall on this date in 1987. Over an inch of rain fell on the park, stranding 8,000 people and washing out many roads.