NATIONAL SUMMARY 3 P.M. Eastern Thursday, January 8, 1998 --Unsettled, springlike weather continued around the eastern third of the nation today. Unseasonably warm, moist air combined with an enroaching storm system created strong thunderstorms over the Southeast last night and today that produced damaging wind and hail, flooding downpours and even a couple of tornadoes. Farther north, a flooding rain soaked the Ohio and Tennesee Valleys last night closing many roadways. The heaviest rain moved into the Northeast today, and flood advisories were posted for many locations. On the western edge of the storm, colder air produced a ribbon of snow from Michigan to Oklahoma. --Indeed, colder air moving south behind the system limited thermometers to the 50s across Texas today. Contrast this to temperatures in the 50s and 60s as far north as Pennsylvania. --Even colder air moved south into the Northern Rockies and Dakotas as an Arctic cold front produced a little snow. Temperatures this afternoon stagnated in the single digits and teens in parts of Montana and North Dakota. --High pressure near the Four Corners continued to provide dry weather around that area while a couple of showers of rain and mountain snow invaded parts of California and Oregon. A LOOK AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER MAP --As of 2pm EST, a storm is over Indiana (29.38) with a stationary front probing eastward into Southern New England. A cold front from this storm stretches east into West Virginia and then south into Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. Another storm (29.70) is over South Dakota and a cold front pressues west into Wyoming and Idaho and northwest into Washington. High pressure is over Utah (30.00) and west Texas (29.93). SPECIAL WEATHER Daily record highs shattered by ten or more degrees in spots along the Eastern Seaboard... For much of the East today it feels like a sauna bath outside or a tropical rainforest. At Binghamton, NY, the mercury has reached 63, breaking the old record of 51 set in 1978. This tied the January record high of 63 set on January 25th, 1967. The dew point there has also risen to 62. Newark, NJ warmed to 70 at 2 p.m., this broke the old date record of 60 set back in 1949. The January record at Newark is 74 set on January 26th, 1950. Todays high makes it only the 4th time on record that it reached 70 in January at Newark. INTERNATIONAL WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS For the first time in two years, Tokyo, Japan has been hit by a major snowstorm. Heavy snow began just before midnight last night, eastern time and had accumulated 8 inches or more by midday today, when it was tapering off. The weight of the heavy, wet snow may have damaged some trees and power lines. Snow also fell at the site of the Winter Olympic Games in Nagano. At least two tornadoes whirled across northwestern Europe Wednesday night. One damaged about 1000 homes in and around Selsey, England. Another tore through Saint-Omer-Cappelle in West Flanders, France with estimated wind speeds of 155 mph. WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS BY ACCU WEATHER Additional record set or tied today... New York City, NY 65 64/1937 Charlottesville, VA 70 68/1982 Heavy rain... Buffalo, NY has had 2.31 inches of rain between 1 p.m. Wednesday and 1 p.m. today. This is the greatest 24-hour rainfall on record for the month of January at Buffalo. (125 years of records). Two greater precipitation amounts during this month were all or partially snow; they were 2.57 inches on January 10-11, 1982 and 2.40 inches January 22-23, 1957. Boone, North Carolina had a total of 8.40 inches of rain in 24hours ending at 8 a.m. this morning. Other totals (inches): Idlewild, NC 6.40 Laurel Springs, NC 5.38 Jefferson, NC 4.12 Hillsville, VA 5.23 Potts Mountain, VA 4.10 Glasgow, VA 3.73 Roan Nountain, TN 4.76 Newfound Gap, TN 4.24 Iron Mountain, TN 3.64 Snowfall amounts to 7 a.m. from yesterday into today across southern Missouri: Ash Grove 5 inches Joplin 4 inches Neosho 3.8 inches Springfield 3 inches Sarcoxie 3.5 inches 36-hour rainfall amounts ending at 7 a.m. EST this morning include (inches): Asheville, NC 4.15 Hickory, NC 1.25 Pickens, SC 5.25 Salem, SC 6.10 Athens, GA 1.70 Gainesville, GA 1.87 Clemson, SC 3.53 Beckley, WV 0.98 Tallahassee, FL 2.12 Pensacola N.A.S., FL 3.94 DAILY EXTREMES National High Today 84 degrees at Tamiami, Florida National Low Today -15 degrees at Cutbank, Montana International High 110 degrees at Nullagine, Australia International Low -59 degrees at Shologontsy, Russia WEATHER HISTORY 1859- New York City's only daylight period continuously below zero. 1937- Coldest ever in Nevada: minus 50 degrees F. at San Jacinto. 1953- Severe ice storm - 1-4 inches; 31 deaths in New England. Ninety percent of public without electricity or phone in Norwalk, CT. 1982- Minus 15 degrees in Scotland, Great Britain. One degree above in parts of Great Britain. 1990- High winds with gusts to 108 mph near Fort Collins, CO and 104 mph at Winter Park ski area. 1998 AccuWeather, Inc., 619 W. College Ave., State College, PA 16801