NATIONAL SUMMARY 3 P.M. Eastern Friday, January 9, 1998 --Unsettled weather continued from the Ohio Valley to New England today as a strong storm system slowly wandered across the Great Lakes. Plentiful Gulf moisture has already produced flooding rains from the Tennessee Valey to New York over the past several days, and the heaviest rain continued for parts of Southern New England and New York today. Farther northward, temperatures hovering around freezing have contributed to a significant ice storm that has snapped power lines and trees over northern New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. --Temperatures as far north as New York City again hovered near 60 degrees this Friday although colder air was pushing eastward behind the storm system over the Great Lakes. While temperatures were in the 20s and 30s around the Great Lakes this afternoon with a little snow flying about, 50s and 60s were found over the Southeast. --Even colder air chilled the northern Rockies and Plains this Friday as an arctic cold front sank southward. Temperatures were below zero this afternoon in several locations across Montana and North Dakota; combined with a gusty wind, it actually felt more than 40 or 50 degrees below zero. --A new storm system moving ashore over California produced rain and mountain snow today. A LOOK AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER MAP --As of 2 p.m., a storm is over Michigan (29.43) with a cold front extending southwest to a storm over north Texas (29.70) A cold front from this system stretches northwest into southern Washington. Another storm (29.43) is over New York with a cold front stretching south into the Atlantic off Long Island and a warm front bisecting New England. Yet another storm is off the California coast (29.68). High pressure is centered over Mississippi. SPECIAL WEATHER Severe weather raked eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia last night... A line of summerlike thunderstorms blasted through areas west of the Appalachians overnight. At Troy Hill, Pa., golfball-sized hail covered the ground and was blown horizontally for a time by high winds. 1-inch-diameter hail was dropped on Kittanning, Pa. a little farther up the Allegheny River. Golfball-sized hail also fell at Sandyville, Davisville, and Mineral Wells, West Virginia. An 80 mph thunderstorm wind gust hit Ravenswood, West Virginia. It blew in windows and store fronts, while knocking down trees, power lines and even some chimneys. To add insult to injury, 1/2 inch- diameter hail accumulated 1 inch deep at Ravenswood. In Ohio, power poles were knocked down at St. Marys. INTERNATIONAL WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS Whereas at the start of this week, there were three tropical cyclones in the South Pacific, now just one remains. Tropical Cyclone Katrina is located just north of New Caledonia, a small island east of Queensland, Australia. Katrina is packing winds of 80-100 mph and moving slowly toward the southeast. Today was a cool, wet day in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. Between three quarters of an inch and an inch of rain fell around Riyadh with temperatures only in the 50s. The normal high in Riyadh is 70. WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS BY ACCU WEATHER Binghamton, NY has warmed to 56 today. This broke the old record high of 52 set in 1978. Snow totals over Wisconsin ending earlier this morning: Land O Lakes 4 inches Nelma 6 inches Crandon 9 inches Manitowoc 8 inches Saxon 5 inches Hurley 4 inches New London 6 inches Maribel 7 inches Ogdensburg 6 inches Wausaukee 6 inches Crandon 9 inches Manitowoc 8 inches Saxon 5 inches Hurley 4 inches New snow totals in Minnesota as of 10 a.m... Two Harbors 5 inches Lutsen 4 inches Illinois snow totals: Crystal Lake 9 inches Fox Lake 9 inches Harvard 7 inches Round Lake 8 inches Rockford 8 inches New England ice storm... Central and northern Massachusetts and New Hampshire continue to get freezing rain. There are some power outages and trees downed in Ashby, Paxton and Ashburnham, Ma. Numerous trees and power lines were downed in Hillsborough and Dublin, N.H. A final total of 14.50 inches of rain was measured near Cedar Mountain, NC. in Transylvania County last night. San Juan, Puerto Rico has had 6.99 inches of rain for January compared to the normal of 0.88 of an inch. This makes January 1998 the third rainiest to January 1977 (7.60 inches) and January 1969 (7.49 inches). This heavy rain is following one of the driest Decembers on record. Snow totals over northern Lower Michigan 24 hours to 10 a.m... Alpena 6 inches Comins 7.3 inches Williamsburg 6 inches Mancelona 5 inches Gaylord 8 inches Charlevoix 5 inches Frankfort 8 inches Cheboygan 8 inches Boyne City 6.3 inches DAILY EXTREMES National High Today 81 degrees at Homestead, Florida National Low Today -22 degrees at Jordan, Montana International High 115 at Marble Bar, Australia International Low -59 at Shologontsy, Russia WEATHER HISTORY 1899- Minus 63 degrees F in Norway House, Manitoba -- coldest ever in province. 1932- Week of January 9th: U.S. Weather Bureau reported "pink snow" in Durango, CO. A dust storm from the Painted Desert interacted with a snowstorm, creating pink snow that covered a 30-mile wide area. 1975- 54 inches of snow in Adams Center, NY -- state record for 24 hours. 1977- Four inches of snow in Greensboro, NC. 1991- A total of 7.50 inches of rain IN Elgin, TX. 1998 AccuWeather, Inc., 619 W. College Ave., State College, PA 16801