East Stays Warm; Rains Lash Northwest

Spring-like temperatures warmed the eastern half of the nation with readings in the 50s and 60s for a third day Saturday, while blustery rainstorms pelted the Pacific Northwest and caused floods.

Torrential rains near Port Angeles, Wash., pushed the Elwha and Dungeness rivers over their banks and drove 15 families from their homes.

Temperatures were 20 degrees above normal for the season from Nebraska to the Atlantic, and records were tied or broken in at least 10 cities, the National Weather Service said.

“It’s been lovely all week,” said Dave Anderson, owner of Anderson Thoroughbred Farms in Ashland, Neb. It has been so nice so long, Anderson said, he cannot remember when the last bad weather was.

“Maybe back in ‘55,” he said, laughing. “It’s been like God’s country around here.”

In New Hampshire’s White Mountains, towns that suffered through bitter winter conditions last week basked in the sunshine and 40-degree temperatures.

“You would have never believed that three days ago it was minus 30 degrees with winds about 35 m.p.h.,” said Harry Reid, manager at Cannon Mountain in Franconia Notch, N.H. “We’ve got some real spring skiing.”

Readings of 63 in Philadelphia and Atlanta and 66 in Spartanburg, S.C., set record highs. It was 64 degrees in Wilmington, Del., breaking a record 61 set in 1913. A 55-degree reading in Concord, N.H., edged out a 54-degree record set in 1929.

“You’ve got to have relief somewhere along the line,” said meteorologist Bob Gager said. “What we’ve having right now is a January thaw.”

Rain and high winds lashed the Northwest, and the precipitation fell as snow in the higher mountains. Wind gusts up to 80 m.p.h. on the Oregon coast knocked out power, closed U.S. 101 near Garibaldi and toppled trees onto mobile homes at Rockaway. There were no reports of injuries.

Relentless downpours forced the Elwha and Dungeness rivers out of their banks, chasing the families from their homes and sending a mud and rock slide across state Highway 112.

Crews of volunteers were working to build sandbag dikes to protect property along the rivers.