The nation's weather

More active weather is expected in the East on Thursday as a couple of cold fronts and low pressure move through the southeastern quadrant of the nation.

Energy associated with these systems combined with rich warm moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will produce periods of rain and thunderstorms from the southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle through the Mid-Atlantic Coast. Storms in the Florida Peninsula will have the potential to turn severe through the afternoon. Meanwhile, on the northern edge of this system, cold daytime highs will support periods of snowfall in the Central and Northern Appalachians.

Behind the activity in the East, a trough of low pressure will kick up a areas of light rain and light snow showers in the Dakotas and Nebraska as it moves through the Midwest.

In the West, subtropical moisture and another frontal boundary from the Pacific will create more precipitation in western Washington. This duo will provide rain showers and periods of heavy rainfall to the coast and western mountains of the state. Major rainfall may trigger flood watches over the area, while warming and rainfall may create avalanche warnings in the Cascades. Elsewhere, outside of precipitation in the Northern Intermountain West, high pressure will provide dry and fair weather conditions in California, parts of the Central Great Basin and the Southwest.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Wednesday ranged from a morning low of 1 degree at Antigo, Wis., to a high of 91 degrees at Vero Beach, Fla.