Midwest

Weather Underground midday recap for Thursday, August 28, 2008.

The biggest weather story for the US on Friday will be days away from actually impacting the weather here. Tropical Storm Gustav will most likely strengthen into a hurricane at some point on Friday and continue to trek east through the Caribbean. The storm is expected to move away from land for the next few days which will allow the storm to gain even more strength before moving into the Gulf of Mexico. The current forecast track for Gustav takes the storm into the Gulf and to the US coast around Louisiana by Tuesday morning. For the most current information on this potentially dangerous storm log on to http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/.

In the shorter term, a series of weak low pressure systems moving through the East will bring wet weather to the East Coast and Mid-West.

A stationary front will extend south from these storms, then curve west into Northern Texas. Thunderstorms will develop along this front and to the south on Friday, but severe weather is not anticipated.

In the West, temperatures will remain above normal, but the heat wave gripping the region will begin to break as a cold front moves off the Pacific Ocean into the Northwest. The front will not bring much wet weather with it, though coastal Washington could see a few showers, but some fog will likely return to the California coast by Saturday.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday have ranged from a morning low of 28 degrees at Yellowstone, Wyo to a midday high of 102 degrees at China Lake, Calif.