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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. 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 higher elevations of the mountain ranges of the Northern Intermountain West and Northern Rockies. The system is expected to reach the western region of the Northern Plains and the Central Rockies by Thursday evening. By this light precipitation will remain over the region.

To the East, showers and storms over the Northeast will begin to dissipate on Thursday as the strong low pressure system over the region pushes to the northeast into eastern 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 begin to move into the region and will lower afternoon temperatures. The cold air will also combine with air over the warmer lake waters to produce lake-effect snow showers over areas of the Upper and Lower Great Lakes.

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.