Storyhighlights
• Rain hits Midwest, Ohio Valley and southern Plains
• New England and the Mid-Atlantic also soaked
• Storms in California, Arizona spur flash flooding


_{Fans take cover as a thunderstorm interrupts a Cubs-Padres spring training game in Arizona.}

(AP) -- Thunderstorms and heavy rain hit the Midwest, Ohio Valley and southern Plains on Thursday as a front passed over the region.

As the front moved northeast, the thunderstorms diminished and brought steady rain to New England and the Mid-Atlantic.

In the Southwest, the tail end of the front triggered thunderstorms in southern California and Arizona. Some areas saw flash flooding.

Elsewhere in the West, the skies ranged from clear to partly cloudy. Rain fell in the Olympic Peninsula and Puget Sound region.

Temperatures in the lower 48 states Wednesday ranged from a low of 15 degrees at Stanley, Idaho, to a high of 87 degrees at Edinburg, Texas.

_{Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.}