The main weather story for the nation will be the storm system developing over the Midwest on Wednesday. This system will remain nearly stationary through most of the day, and then slowly move northeast on Thursday. The associated cold front will advance east and south Wednesday across the Southern Rockies and Southern Plains. As the warm and moist air from the Gulf of Mexico meets with the cold front, a large area of showers and thunderstorms are expected from the Northern Plains southward to Northern Texas. The heaviest rainfall may occur especially from southeastern South Dakota and southwestern Minnesota southwestward into eastern Oklahoma. A line of severe thunderstorms is possibly developing along or slightly ahead of the cold front, which is capable of producing tornadoes and damaging winds Wednesday afternoon and evening. Apart from that, moderate to heavy snow with sleet and strong winds is expected over the Northern Plains.

Out West, another wet and cool day is in store for the Pacific Northwest Wednesday as another Pacific system is scheduled to arrive around midday. Scattered rain and mountain snow showers should continue early in the day. Expect precipitation rates to pick up in the afternoon and extend into northwest California as the system approaches. These conditions are expected to persist into Thursday morning. Other than that, the rest of the West Coast should remain cool and dry Wednesday as high pressure holds in place.

Elsewhere, a low pressure system off the Mid-Atlantic will slowly move north, triggering scattered rain showers over eastern Mid-Atlantic and southern New England.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Tuesday ranged from a low of 19 degrees at Cut Bank, Mont to a high of 89 degrees at Pecos, Texas.

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body’s internal organs. Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity) or the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart).

Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or have been exposed to asbestos dust and fibre in other ways, such as by washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos, or by home renovation using asbestos cement products. There is no association between mesothelioma and smoking.