US

Weather Underground midday recap for Thursday, November 12, 2009. The main weather story in the country was a major storm that tracked up the eastern seaboard. This storm consisted of the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida that moved onto the Gulf Coast earlier this week. On Thursday, it transformed into a powerful Nor\'easter storm that dumped large amounts of precipitation on the Mid-Atlantic. The strongest effect, however, was the strong wind that blew through the Mid-Atlantic and along the Southeast Coast. This strong wind is typical of Nor\'easter storms that track along the eastern seaboard several times per year. Sustained winds well over 25 mph were noted, and wind gusts over 60 mph were observed in some areas.

This powerful storm will continue to drift up the eastern seaboard, eventually providing some precipitation to coastal New England.

Meanwhile, a high pressure system to the north of the storm produced dry conditions through New England.

The rest of the country remained mostly dry even as a front stretched from the Northern Plains through the West Coast. Only a few areas of showers rom the Northwest through the Intermountain West. Some of these showers fell as snow in Montana.

The Northeast rose into the 30s and 40s, while the Southeast saw temperatures in the 50s and 60s. The Southern Plains rose into the 60s and 70s, while the Intermountain West saw temperatures in the 30s and 40s. The Northwest rose into the 40s and 50s.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday have ranged from a morning low of 12 degrees at Saranac Lake, N.Y. to a midday high of 82 degrees at Tucson, Ariz.