US

Weather Underground midday recap for Thursday, July 09, 2009.

Much of the nation saw relatively quiet weather conditions on Thursday, but there were a few areas of active thunderstorms in the Plains and Southeast.

A series of thunderstorms skirted the border between eastern Nebraska and South Dakota in the afternoon hours, spawning large hail and strong winds. Hail up to the 2 and a half inches in diameter was reported, and damaged ranged from leaves stripped from trees, to smashed windshields. Winds were also problematic, withs gusts up to 70 mph that tipped over a tractor trailer, damaged crops, and felled trees. Also in Hartington, NE, 2.16 inches of rain was reported.

The Southeast also saw numerous thunderstorms on Thursday, although most of these storms contained only heavy rain and lightning. Damaging wind gusts had not been reported as of early afternoon. The storms ranged from Louisiana's southern coast through the Appalachians and into Virginia's coastal plain. Florida also saw widespread thunderstorms with heavy rain on Thursday.

The Southwest saw clear skies which allowed temperatures to soar into the triple digits on Thursday prompting heat advisories throughout Texas and Louisiana. Hot temperatures were also reported in the Desert Southwest, where by early afternoon highs had already passed 105 degrees.

Along the West Coast, early morning fog along the coast burned back to the beaches for the most part, through the Northwest coast remained shrouded in fog into the afternoon. Where the fog hadn\'t burned off temperatures were much cooler than normal, while inland, temperatures remained slightly cooler than typical for early July.

The Northeast saw a few clouds Thursday and pleasant temperatures with afternoon highs generally in the upper 60s to mid-70s.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday have ranged from a morning low of 27 degrees at Stanley, Idaho to a midday high of 111 degrees at Canadian, Texas.