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Weather Underground midday recap for Tuesday, January 05, 2010.

As snow persisted over the Northeast, the Pacific Northwest saw a sloppy combination of snow and rain on Tuesday. A low pressure system spinning off the West Coast pushed a tough and associated cold front over the Pacific Northwest. Throughout the day, the front moved eastward, over the Northern Rockies and approached the Northern Plains. This system pulled in abundant moisture from the Pacific Ocean, as well as cold air in from Canada, which allowed for scattered showers to develop along the front. Great Falls, Montana saw snowfall accumulation range between 2-3 inches, while the Cascades saw near 1 inch of sloppy frozen rain and snow as temperatures hovered just above freezing. The higher elevations, however, saw a couple more inches of snow on Tuesday. To the east, light and scattered snowfall initiated over the Northern Plains, with less than an inch in some areas of North Dakota.

Meanwhile, out East, a low pressure system hovered just off the East Coast. Flow around this system continued to pick up moisture from the Great Lakes, and allowed for lake-effect snow to persist along the eastern shores of the Lower Great Lakes. Snowfall accumulation in these areas ranged from 3-5 inches, due to its moist and heavy consistency, while the rest of the Northeast saw between 1-3 inches from the Ohio River Valley to Maine. Cool conditions persisted with highs in the 20s over most of the region.

Between these two systems, the Central US remained bitterly cold on Tuesday. High pressure built over the Plains and started to advect eastward over the Mississippi River Valley. This pulled cold, Canadian air well into the Southern Plains. Highs only reached into the 30s in the South with below-freezing overnight lows, while the North saw highs in the single digits. Lows in Minnesota dipped well below zero with most of northern Minnesota reporting lows in the -30s.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Tuesday have ranged from a morning low of -32 degrees at International Falls, Minn. to a midday high of 73 degrees at Camp Pendleton, Calif.