clarinews@clarinet.com (United Press International) (01/18/90)
Moist, warm air drifted into the Midwest and mid-Atlantic Coast Wednesday, keeping temperatures unseasonably high and generating more fog, while rain doused the Ohio Valley and thunderstorms kicked up in the southern Plains. Up to a foot of new snow had fallen by Wednesday morning in the Southern California mountains, the National Weather Service said. Balmy weather returned to parts of the eastern United States. Record high temperatures for the date were set or tied in at least 15 cities, including Atlantic City, N.J., 63; Baltimore, 67; Beckley, W.Va., 61; Binghamton, N.Y., 53; Brownsville, Texas, 84; Harrisburg, Pa., 65; Houghton Lake, Mich., 47; Huntsville, Ala., 71; Montgomery, Ala., 78; Newark, N.J., 62; New York, 63; Syracuse, N.Y., 57; Rockford, Ill., 53; Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pa., 55; and Williamsport, Pa., 55. With the warm air came more fog. More than 10,000 airline travelers were delayed by fog in Illinois Tuesday and while it wasn't that bad Wednesday, there were some departure delays at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports. Travelers in northeast Wisconsin battled fog and freezing drizzle that made driving treacherous and forced at least one school district to cancel classes. New England reported early fog over Vermont and some icing for the morning commuter rush before a January thaw set in, raising temperatures to the 50s in the region. Patchy morning fog drifted into Pennsylvania, Delaware, southern New Jersey and much of Maryland before the mercury rose into the 60s. Thunderstorms extended from Missouri across Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma, eastern Texas and western Louisiana, producing small hail east of Fort Worth, Texas, and winds up to 50 mph near Texarkana, Ark. A wet and blustery storm struck Hamilton, west of Waco in central Texas, early Wednesday. ``It just came in, popped down and left,'' sheriff's dispatcher Debbie Branch said. ``It was pretty intense for awhile, but there was no damage we know of.'' Northern Minnesota received 6 to 8 inches of snow overnight Tuesday. A fresh blanket of snow coated the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles in the morning. Big Bear had up to 12 inches of new snow and there was a foot and a half on the ground at Lake Arrowhead. A winter storm warning was posted over the mountains of San Diego County, with as much as 15 inches of new snow above 2,000 feet, the weather service said. Rain extended from Michigan across northern Indiana, Ohio, central Kentucky, central Tennessee, northern Mississippi, northern Alabama, western West Virginia, western Pennsylvania and western through north central New York state. In a six-hour period, 1.4 inches was recorded at Fort Campbell, Ky., and an inch fell at Jackson, Tenn. The East Shore viewing site where the public watches shuttle landings at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California will be closed for the landing of Columbia early Friday, NASA said. Recent rains have made the viewing area impassable to vehicles. The public will be allowed access to the main base area of Edwards and directed to a hillside viewing area near the NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility in the northern portion of the base.