Texas, plains hit by wind, rain

Showers and thunderstorms dumped large amounts of rain Tuesday in the Texas Panhandle and across the plains, while sunny skies produced record high temperatures in the Midwest’s northern

reaches. The greatest concentration of thunderstorms, in the southern and central plains region from eastern Nebraska south into central and western Texas, prompted tornado watches and

brought heavy rains. More than 3 inches of rain fell during the morning at Amarillo, Tex. Numerous accidents were reported and Interstate 40 in western Amarillo was closed for a few hours

because of flooded underpasses, police said. Winds from one thunderstorm blew part of the roof off a house in Fremont, Neb., authorities said, and the storm produced hail at Herman, Neb.

Sunny skies Tuesday brought temperatures in the upper 80s and low 90s in much of the Mississippi Valley, the Great Lakes region and the East Coast from the mid-Atlantic states to central

Florida. MORE TO READ