NE

Weather Underground Forecast for Thursday, January 08, 2009. Storms will continue to flare up across the Northwest and Northeast on Thursday.

In the West, a cold frontal boundary system will sweep across the Pacific Northwest shoreline in the morning. Strong, moist onshore flow will bring moderate showers to the Pacific Northwest Coast, with periods of heavy downpours throughout the day. Showers are expected to extend southward into portions of northern and central California. As the system advances to the east, it will produce moderate snow showers across the mountain ranges of the Northern Intermountain West and Northern Rockies. The system is expected to bring areas of light precipitation to the western regions of the Northern Plains and the Central Rockies by Thursday evening.

To the East, winter storms over the Northeast will begin to dissipate on Thursday as the low pressure system over the region lifts into southeastern Canada. As this system exits the New England States, light precipitation and strong southwesterly winds will persist throughout the morning. A surge of cold air will then move into the Northeast and trigger lower afternoon temperatures. The cold air will also combine with moist air over the warmer lake waters to produce lake-effect snow showers throughout areas of Great Lakes.

Meanwhile, areas of high pressure will allow the remainder of the country to see dry conditions with benign weather activity.

The Great Lakes and Northeast will see temperatures ranging from the 10s to 30s, while the Southeast and Southern Plains will see temperatures ranging from the 40s to 80s. The Northwest will see temperatures in the 30s to 50s, while the Southwest will rise into the 40s to 70s.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Wednesday ranged from a low of -13 degrees at Fosston, Minn to a high of 86 degrees at Miami, Fla.