Nightly News   |  April 02, 2011

Spring roars in like a lion across US

There's snow on the ground in the Northeast, it's hailing in Washington, D.C., and temperatures are hitting record highs in California. NBC's Kristin Welker has more on the unpredictable weather.

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>>> the baseball season started this week, which is supposed to mean spring is here. but with snow in the east, record high temperatures in the west, many are asking what's going on? kristen welker reports.

>> a rain and hail delay.

>> reporter: this is spring in the nation's capital. the nationals game delayed due to hail. a powerful end of the week storm walloped the northeast. more than a foot of snow fell in parts of new hampshire and maine where they had to remove it in time for the upcoming red sox minor league game. in new york and new jersey, they were also digging out. this after a winter that brought record snowfalls, a staggering 178 inches in some parts of new york alone. in florida, it was heavy rain that wreaked havoc, as many as nine tornados touched down and powerful thunderstorms pounded the area, leaving two dozen homes damaged. the conditions even creating problems for nasa. officials are now conducting extensive inspections on the space shuttle , expected to liftoff later this month.

>> the reason we see these changes this time of year, the jet stream pattern starts to change as we head into spring. we see widespread severe weather outbreaks.

>> reporter: the weather has also been extreme out west, where record highs were set from the sierras to southern california . phoenix topped out at 100 degrees friday. meteorologists say with another system expected sunday, people in the nation's midsection to the east coast should brace themselves for more severe weather . kristen welker, nbc news, los angeles .