September 10, 2011: The nation's weather

The West was to see active weather Saturday, while weather across the East was expected to settle down a bit.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Lee were to continue dissipating over the Ohio River Valley, while only kicking up a few scattered showers. Cloudy skies were to persist from the Midwest to the Northeast, but rainfall was forecast to be light and scattered. Still, flooding was to remain a concern across Pennsylvania and New York.

The Susquehanna River remained 5 to 15 feet above its flood stage level, and motorists are urged to avoid driving through flooded waters, which is often deeper than it appears.

Meanwhile, behind this system in the Central U.S., a broad ridge of high pressure was to stretch from the Rocky Mountains and over the Plains to create another pleasant day with highs in the 80s across the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest.

In the Southern Plains, the forecast called for another hot day with low relative humidity. Evacuations were to remain in effect across eastern Texas, with dry surface conditions and strong winds in the forecast.

There was no rain in the near-term forecast for Texas, especially with Tropical Storm Nate in the Gulf of Mexico expected to take a westward turn and move over eastern Mexico. The heavy rains from Nate were not expected to reach into Texas.

Out West, active weather was forecast for the West Coast on Friday as a trough of low pressure sat over northern California. This was expected to produce some scattered thunderstorms.

While surface conditions remained dry across the West Coast, these storms were to increase fire danger from the combination of dry soil and high probability of lightning activity. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Friday ranged from a morning low of 28 degrees at West Yellowstone, Mont., to a high of 102 degrees at Red Bluff, Calif.