Cold Fronts Bring Relief to Nation’s Record Hot Spots

Thunderstorms struck parts of the Midwest on Saturday as cold fronts began cooling areas that had suffered abnormally hot temperatures most of the week.

The fronts produced a vertical band of thunderstorms that stretched from Texas to Minnesota. Parts of Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas were hit by up to five inches of rain.

Forecasters predicted relief would come for the East by today. “This looks like the biggest break (in the heat wave) that’s come up,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Rich Kane in Washington.

Meanwhile, the mercury soared to records of 92 degrees in Miami and 96 degrees in Richmond, Va., on Saturday. It was the hottest month of May ever in cities including New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Louisville, Ky., and Milwaukee.

A tornado spawned by the cold front damaged buildings on two farms near Grant in south-central Nebraska about dawn, but no injuries were reported.

In Omaha, Neb., thousands of fans attending the College World Series took temporary cover when a tornado warning was issued at the end of the game.

Severe weather also struck the Southwest when a tornado touched down late Friday in a rural area near Carlsbad, N. M.

Eight people were injured and four trailer homes were destroyed, authorities said.

More than four inches of rain fell in parts of southwestern Minnesota and the central Missouri town of Marshall before dawn, and more than three inches fell at Huron, S.D. Heavy rain overflowed Beaver Creek in northeastern Iowa, flooding the town of Clarksville.