Summary

NATIONAL SUMMARY

An area of low pressure spinning off the coast of South Carolina
developed into the first tropical storm of the Atlantic season on
Saturday. Tropical Storm Alberto provided much in the way of
cloudiness across portions of North Carolina and South Carolina
throughout the day; however, the vast majority of the showers and
thunderstorms associated with the system remained off the South
Carolina coast. Aside from Alberto, much of the East Coast enjoyed a
beautiful start to the weekend with plenty of sunshine and mild
temperatures. Temperatures across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic
warmed into the 70s and 80s under an abundance of sunshine thanks to
high pressure over New England. The warm temperatures were also found
across the Sunshine State. Parts of South Florida had showers and
thunderstorms during the afternoon hours. Farther north, spotty
showers and thunderstorms erupted across the eastern Tennessee
Valley. A cold front crossing through the Plains on Saturday brought
showers and thunderstorms to much of the region. Some of these
thunderstorms over the central High Plains produced large hail,
damaging wind gusts and even a few tornadoes. In the wake of the
front, dry weather dominated much of the West underneath a partly to
mostly sunny sky.


SPECIAL WEATHER

Remembering Record May Heat in the East:

On this date back in 1996, a recorded breaking May heat wave
continued across parts of the East Coast. The heat on May 20th of
that year ended up being the hottest weather of the entire year for
many locations across the East as most of the summer was cool. In
fact, the mercury did not reach 90 degrees during the month of July
in both Philadelphia and New York City. Boston, Mass., Bridgeport,
Conn., Newark, N.J. and New York, N.Y., all warmed into the 90s and
set new daily record highs on this day. The hottest spot was Patuxent
River, Md., which soared to 100 degrees and smashed its old record of
88 degrees set back in 1947.


WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS

Severe Weather Reports For Saturday:

--Quarter-sized hail covered the ground 7 miles north of Tryon, Neb.

--Hail covered the ground 19 miles southwest of Thedford, Neb. The
hail ranged from the sizes of nickels to quarters.

--Quarter-sized hail left a significant accumulation on the ground 5
miles southeast of Eads, Colo.

--Golf ball-sized hail pounded Stratton, Neb.

--Dime-sized hail slammed the northeast side of Sioux City, Iowa,
before sunrise.

--A rope tornado was reported in Harper and Kingman counties in
Kansas on Saturday evening. Spotters reported oil tanks and wells
damaged near Rago, Kan., with multiple tree damage. The same twister
also knocked down power lines and damaged homes in Harper, Kan.

--A possible tornado in St. Petersburg, Fla., tore portions of a roof
off a motel and tossed it onto cars adjacent to the building.

A Few Records From Saturday:

--Alpena, Mich., set a new record high temperature as the mercury
peaked at 91 degrees, breaking the old record of 88 set in 1996

--Gaylord, Mich., set a record high temperature of 88 degrees,
breaking the old record of 87 set back in 1977.

--Wausau, Wis., set a record high temperature of 88 degrees, breaking
the old record of 87 set back in 1939, 1972 and 1977.

24-Hour Rainfall Totals, Ending at 12:00 a.m. Sunday (Inches):

Walhalla, N.D. 2.04


Pompano Beach, Fla. 1.65


Fremont, Neb. 1.33


Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 1.28


Le Mars, Iowa 1.25


Spencer, Iowa 1.24


Clinton, Okla. 1.23


W. Palm Beach, Fla. 1.06


Sioux City, Iowa 1.06


Tekamah, Neb. 1.04


Asheville, N.C. 0.95


York, Neb. 0.94


Miami, Fla. 0.92


Long Prairie, Minn. 0.87


Madison, S.D. 0.86


Linton, N.D. 0.83


Limon, Colo. 0.77


Columbus, Neb. 0.72


Wadena, Minn. 0.71


Buffalo, Minn. 0.71


Staples, Minn. 0.71


Cavalier, N.D. 0.71


Key West, Fla. 0.70


Rapid City, S.D. 0.68



DAILY EXTREMES

National High Yesterday 105 at Death Valley, Calif.
National Low Yesterday 21 at Stanley, Idaho


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