Cool Air Ends Midwest Heat, Brings Storms

A cold front settled into the nation’s midsection Monday, giving residents a breather from a week of hot, humid weather and breaking at least 10 low-temperature records from South Dakota to Texas.

Ahead of the cold air, thunderstorms stretched from Illinois across Missouri and Arkansas into northern Texas and southern Oklahoma.

Severe thunderstorms also were scattered over the Atlantic Coast, where early afternoon temperatures reached the upper 80s and 90s as far north as Vermont.

Burlington, Vt., reported a record high of 92 degrees. The heat and humidity combined produced a heat index of around 100 degrees in much of the East.

Tornadoes, Lightning

The storms produced a tornado in Frankfort, Ky., but no damage was reported. Lightning struck a Marathon Oil Co. fuel storage tank in Tampa, Fla. and at least 60 firefighters tackled the blaze, but there were no reports of injuries, authorities said.

Temperatures remained in the 60s and 70s from the northern and central Plains through the upper two-thirds of the Mississippi Valley and the upper Great Lakes region, the National Weather Service said.

A weather service statement predicted Monday night would be “a midsummer night’s dream across the Plains.”

Ten record lows were set or tied in South Dakota, Texas, Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska Monday morning. Record readings included 35 degrees at Alamosa, Colo., 39 at both Casper, Wyo., and Rapid City, S.D., and 40 at Wheat Ridge, Colo. It was the third day of record lows in the Plains.

In contrast, the mercury in Tucson, Ariz., reached 100 degrees or higher for the 37th consecutive day. Although the string of 100-degree readings set a record, the afternoon high of 105 was three degrees shy of the record for the date.

Storms associated with the cold front produced violent storms Sunday from the Plains to the East Coast. These generated tornadoes with 98-m.p.h. winds and lightning, which killed a New Jersey teen-ager and injured two men, in Michigan and Kansas.

A flood watch was posted Monday for much of Ohio, where forecasters predicted as much as 3 inches of rain.