National Weather Summary for October 21,2013 from weatherunderground.com

Weather Underground midday recap for Monday,October 21,2013.

Rain and snow spread across the northern Plains on Monday, while scattered showers and thunderstorms developed across the Great Lakes and Eastern Valleys. A low pressure system moved northeastward over the Great Lakes and created a strong cold front that stretched southwestward over the Mississippi River Valley and into the southern Plains. Warm and humid air from the Gulf of Mexico allowed for showers and thunderstorms to develop along and ahead of this frontal boundary. The northern side of this system allowed for scattered showers and thunderstorms to develop over the Great Lakes, but significant rainfall has not been reported Heaviest rainfall was reported in Pellston, Michigan with a midday total of 0.82 inches of rain. Cooler temperatures along the back side of this system allowed for snow showers to spread across northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.

At the same time, a separate frontal boundary stalled over the Gulf coast created heavy rain and strong winds associated with thunderstorm activity just off the coast of southern Louisiana and eastern Texas.

Meanwhile in the North, a trough of low pressure slid southward from central Canada and brought more rain and snow showers to the northern Plains from eastern Montana through the Dakotas. Significant precipitation has not been reported in these areas.