Southwest

Weather Underground Forecast for Tuesday, November 10, 2009.

Tropical Storm Ida will make landfall on Tuesday morning. The system will continue losing strength as it pushes over land and is no longer fed by moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. The system will start to make a northeastward turn, while flow around the system will continue to pick up Gulf moisture and spread intense showers with severe thunderstorms along the Gulf states. Expect up to 3 inches of rainfall in many areas of the Lower Mississippi River from Louisiana through the panhandle of Florida. Strong winds will also accompany this system with gusts reaching up to 45 mph. Widespread scattered showers with rainfall totals up to 1 inch will stretch well inland into the Tennessee Valley and the Mid-Atlantic states. For more information on this storm, please see http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/.

Meanwhile to the north, high pressure will continue to build over the Plains and push eastward over the Mississippi River Valley towards the East Coast on Monday. The system will create a cold front that will quickly move southward into the Southeast. This is a relativity weak front and is not expected to produce any precipitation. Clockwise flow around this high pressure will allow for warm air to pour into the Plains. Thus, the Central US will see a slight warming on Tuesday with highs reaching into the upper 50s and lower 60s.

Out West, a trough of low pressure in the North Pacific will continue pushing a cold front through the Pacific Northwest. This will allow for scattered precipitation to persist over the region, with snowfall initiating over the higher elevations of the Cascades and Northern Rockies. Expect up to 1 inch of rain in most areas, with 1-2 inches of snow likely in the Cascades. This system will also bring cool conditions with low clouds to the rest of the West Coast.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Monday ranged from a low of 3 degrees at Daniel, Wyo. to a high of 87 degrees at East Mesa, Ariz.