NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY

FEBRUARY 2005

1st-5th...Rain swept across the southeastern quarter of the nation
Wednesday with isolated downpours of more than 2 inches, and snow was
scattered from the Plains into the Ohio Valley. An area of low pressure
moving eastward along the Gulf Coast spread rain across sections of
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, northern Florida and South
Carolina. Rain also extended northward into parts of Arkansas,
Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky. By midday, New Orleans had collected
2.38 inches of rain, on top of more than an inch on Tuesday, with 2.31
inches at Gulfport, MS, and 1.62 at Slidell, LA.

6th-12th...In the East, an upper-level system currently moving into the
region is bringing in cloudy skies and scattered rain showers to
western portions of the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, and the Lower
Mississippi Valley. Rainfall amounts of over a half an inch have been
fairly common with places such as Paducah, Kentucky receiving 0.78
inches of rain. Elsewhere, high surf created by a low pressure system
in the Atlantic Ocean, pounded the Florida shorelines earlier in the
day. In fact, on Smyrna Beach, Florida the high surf damaged the
foundation of a vacant hotel, causing it to fall in the Ocean. In the
central portion of the country, two areas of low pressure are dragging
a cold front through much of the region, and creating wide-spread rain
and snow showers. Heavy rainfall has been plaguing the southern Plains,
dropping well over an inch of rain and causing many areas of flash
flooding. Nocogdoches TX 2.44; Conroe TX 2.21; Shreveport LA 1.99;
Lufkin TX 1.89; College Station TX 1.34; Jonesboro AR 1.06
El Dorado AR 1.04 Snow fell mainly in the Upper Mississippi Valley with
most places only reporting between a trace and two inches of snow. In
the West, a broad upper-level trough created widely scattered snow
showers all along the Rocky Mountains, along the Front Range, and in
the Great Basin. Most snowfall amounts have been between 3 and 6
inches; but, Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado received 9 inches of new snow,
and Spring Creek, Nevada received 7 inches of new snow. Snow and
powerful winds battered a large chunk of the eastern United States on
Thursday. Snow was reported in parts of Appalachia, the Ohio River
Valley, the Northeast and New England, with areas of New Hampshire
receiving up to a foot. Gusty winds of 20 mph to 35 mph also affected
the same areas. Snow accumulation reached up to 4 inches in West
Virginia.
Heavy rain and winds gusting up to nearly 70 mph battered Southern
California on Friday, triggering dozens of wrecks. At least two people
died. The eastern edge of the storm also pounded southern Utah.
Flash-flood warnings were issued in the same area of Utah where a river
jumped its banks and washed away dozens of homes a month ago. It was
the region's first significant rainfall since five days of torrential
storms last month killed at least 28 people. In Utah, weather service
hydrologist Brian McInerey said up to 2 inches of rain were expected --
far from January's deluge of between 10 and 12 inches. Dozens of homes
were washed away in the earlier deluge, part of an estimated $160
million in damage across the region.

13th-19th...Snow fell Friday throughout the East and Midwest, with
scattered rain in the western states. Early accumulations reached 8
inches in some areas of New York state, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Wind
gusts in the Northeast neared 35 mph. In the West, scattered rain
developed over the lower elevations of California, the Great Basin and
the Southwest. Scattered snow fell in higher elevations of the region.
Heavy rain, including some flash flooding, pounded parts of California,
Arizona and New Mexico. The Pacific Northwest, northern Rockies,
southern Rockies and the upper Great Basin were dry under partly cloudy
skies.
Powerful thunderstorms hammered already saturated Southern California
on Saturday with soaking rain and hail, flooding roads and homes,
knocking out power to thousands of customers and raising the threat of
mudslides. La Conchita, the coastal hamlet where 10 people were killed
by a huge landslide last month, was a ghost town after the U.S.
Geological Survey warned that none of the roughly 150 remaining homes
could be considered safe. In a year of record rainfall, the latest
storms had soaked downtown Los Angeles with about 2 inches of rain
since Thursday. The area has seen nearly three times the average
rainfall this season, and periodic showers are expected for several
more days throughout the state. The unsettled weather even produced two
tornadoes that briefly touched down in San Diego and Riverside
counties. Each lasted about two minutes, breaking windows, and knocking
over trees and power lines. No injuries were reported. The storm
knocked out power to thousands of customers in the area, according to
Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Department of Water and
Power. Rain may also have contributed to a highway crash Saturday that
injured 10 people in the San Fernando Valley, where a bus carrying
tourists rear-ended a sport utility vehicle on the Ventura Freeway.
Mudslides also threatened homes in Culver City, in Los Angeles County,
and in the Orange County cities of Mission Viejo and Anaheim,
authorities said.

20th-28th...Mudslides trapped people in their homes Monday and forced
others to flee as Southern California was soaked by yet another of the
powerful storms that have pounded the region this winter. At least
three deaths were blamed on the weather and part of the area's commuter
rail service was halted. Since Thursday, downtown Los Angeles had
gotten about 6.5 inches of rain. The city's total since July 1, the
start of the region's "water year," has reached 31.40 inches, making it
already the fifth wettest on record, said weather service forecaster
Bruce Rockwell. The record, 38.18 inches, was set in 1883-1884. In Los
Angeles' Sun Valley area, a repair worker was died late Sunday when he
fell into a 30-foot-deep sinkhole created by the storm, said Fire
Department spokesman Melissa Kelley. In the coastal community of La
Conchita, where a landslide killed 10 people last month, six of the 39
people still living there elected to leave during the night because of
the heavy rain and a steady flow of mud on the bluffs behind the town,
said Ventura County Sheriff's Capt. Bill Flannigan. Warnings had been
issued earlier and the community about 70 miles north of Los Angeles
was described as a ghost town Saturday after other residents moved out.
Storms persisted Tuesday over much of the West, with rain and
thunderstorms lashing Southern California. Light snow developed over
the upper Midwest and Great Lakes. Flash flooding developed from the
storms in California. In Los Alamitos, more than 2 1/2 inches of rain
was reported. Scattered light rain and isolated thunderstorms developed
in Arizona and southern Nevada, with some snow in the mountains of
Colorado and Utah. Snow also was reported across Minnesota and
Wisconsin. Patches of fog and mist dotted the rest of the Plains.
Scattered snow showers continued over the Great Lakes, with up to 2
inches reported.
Thunderstorms pounded the southern Plains and Mississippi Valley with
hail and up to 2 inches of rain on Wednesday, and more rain fell in
Southern California. A strong low pressure system moving across the
southern Plains produced strong thunderstorms across eastern Texas,
Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas and parts of Kansas, Missouri and
Mississippi. The heaviest rainfall by midday was 2.03 inches at Temple,
Texas, with 1.72 inches at Paris, Texas, 1.71 at Chandler, OK, and 1.90
at Patterson, LA. In colder air to the north, snow was scattered from
the Colorado Rockies across parts of northern Kansas, Nebraska, the
central Dakotas, central Missouri and southern Illinois. Up to 6 inches
of snow was reported in parts of the Colorado mountains.
A winter storm blanketed the Northeast on Thursday, forcing the federal
government and schools around the region to close early and triggering
a spate of accidents during the afternoon rush hour. The snow coated an
area that included Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and New
York, and was expected to move north later in the day. Several cities
reported accumulations of about 6 inches, and some were bracing for up
to 9 inches.