Chinook, MT

Weather Underground midday recap for Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Cold air poured into the Plains on Saturday, while snow showers developed in parts of the Northeast. A strong low pressure system that brought heavy rain to the Southern Plains and Southeast has advanced eastward and off the East Coast into the Atlantic Ocean. However, counter-clockwise flow around this system continued to push moisture into the Northeast, Great Lakes, and Ohio River Valley. In addition to cool air over the region, this allowed for snow showers to develop across Michigan and the Ohio River Valley. Snowfall accumulations ranged from 1 to 3 inches in most areas, with up to 5 inches at higher elevations of the Central Appalachians. Coastal regions remained slightly warmer, which maintained light rain showers from southern Maine through Virginia.

Behind this system, a dominant ridge of high pressure continued to build over the Plains. This system started to stretch eastward over the Mississippi Valley. Flow around this system pulled cold air in from central Canada and kept seasonable cool temperatures over the Central US. High temperatures only reached into the 30s in parts of northern Texas, while the Central and Northern Plains saw highs in the teens, with overnight lows in the negative teens.

Out West, cool conditions persisted with areas of wet weather as a trough of low pressure moved over the Pacific Northwest and into the Intermountain West and Great Basin. Rainfall totals and high elevation snow accumulation remained light. A few light rain showers extended into California as moist onshore flow persisted.