Clear skies greet Black Friday shoppers across most of country

— -- A quiet and tranquil Thanksgiving is transitioning into a quiet and tranquil holiday weekend across a majority of the country.

Sunshine is expected nearly coast to coast on Friday with the Southwest, the Central Plains, the Ohio Valley, Gulf Coast and Northeast all expecting a good amount of sunshine.

On Sunday, another storm will bring more heavy rain, gusty winds and mountain snow to parts of the West Coast from central California to Washington. The snow could bring some travel delays in the mountain passes, while the rain could bring a handful of delays to western coastal cities.

There will also be some lake effect snow showers in parts of the interior Northeast -- but accumulations are expected to be light. Therefore, travel delays should be minimal in that region.

The only notable weather impacts continue to be the record warmth across the Southwest and central U.S., and the rain bringing some flooding to parts of the Northwest.

Record heat in LA

A mild weather pattern is bringing hot temperatures to parts of the Southwest. It was the warmest Thanksgiving on record in downtown Los Angeles, with a high of 92 degrees. The high broke the previous Thanksgiving Day record of 90 degrees from Nov. 26, 1903. Also of note, Las Vegas reached 80 degrees on Thanksgiving, only the second time Las Vegas has observed 80 degrees or higher this late in the year.

Notable daily records from Wednesday:

Long Beach, Calif. - 94 degrees (Previous 85 degrees in 1990)

Los Angeles Airport - 91 degrees (Previous 84 degrees in 1990)

San Diego - 87 degrees (Previous 86 degrees in 1950)

Phoenix - 87 degrees (Ties Record of 87 degrees in 1950)

Today there is a chance for more record highs for parts of the Southwest and central U.S., including parts of Arizona, Texas and Kansas. Much of Southern California should remain below their records today, but temperatures will still be 10 to 20 degrees above average.

Northwest flooding

Floodwaters from the Skagit River in Washington forced the rescue of some residents on Thanksgiving night. The Skagit River reached its highest crest in 11 years on Thanksgiving due to the ongoing wet pattern in the region. This is just one of several rivers that are flooding in the Northwest.

The Northwest will be drier Friday with only a few scattered rain showers throughout the day. A new storm system is already on the way to region with its main impacts arriving late Saturday into Sunday. Out ahead of it the storm will be some gusty winds through much of the western mountains including the Cascades, Sierra Nevada and northern Rockies. Gusts in the highest elevations could exceed 60 mph.

This next system has colder air and will bring rain and snow to a wider area by Sunday with chances for heavy rain across Northern California through Washington and mountain snow to the Cascades and Sierra Nevada. Locally over 3 inches of rain is expected by Monday and up to 1 foot of snow is expected in the Sierra.

The risk for river flooding and isolated mudslides will persist through the weekend due to the storm activity in the region.