Antartica

Weather Underground midday recap for Sunday, July 20, 2008.



Tropical Storm Cristobal continued to gain strength off the North Carolina coast on Sunday with winds reaching 50 mph by mid-afternoon. The storm's center was about 25 miles to the east of Cape Lookout at 2:00 pm EDT. Most of the precipitation associated with the storm stayed offshore Sunday, but persistent drizzle spread along the coast throughout the day with a few heavier thunderstorms mixed in. Wind gusts in some of these storms reached to near Tropical Storm Force.

In the Northeast a frontal system brought rain and thunderstorms to the region from Pennsylvania northward. Some of the storms in western Pennsylvania and eastern Massachusetts contained damaging winds both regions saw numerous reports of damaged or downed trees.

More severe storms were reported across the Plains where hail up to golf ball size was reported from Iowa and Nebraska northern Minnesota. Schuyler, NE reported heavy tree damage from this large hail.

Thunderstorms were also problematic across the Southwest where monsoon moisture continued to stream into the region. Flash flood watches were posted throughout the day as slow moving storms brought heavy downpours to the region.

Storms were also reported into California where the southwestern corner of the state was covered by flood watches. A few more storms popped up throughout the Sierras further north in the state, but the remainder of the Northwest saw mostly clear skies away from the coast.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Sunday have ranged from a morning low of 33 degrees at Yellowstone, Wyo to a midday high of 104 degrees at Imperial, Neb.