Minimal Severe Threat Until The End Of The Week; Continued Heavy Rain

Happy Tuesday! We’re still tracking severe weather the next couple days – although the threat continues to be less than what we saw over the weekend. However, the severe weather chances will once again increase heading into this weekend, and flooding rains are still possible over the next few days.

Minimal Severe Threat Next Couple Of Days

Today, we’ll watch a few areas across the country that could have a few storms go severe, with the main risks being large hail and damaging winds. Those areas include parts of New England, eastern North Carolina and Virginia, areas of southern and southwestern Texas into western New Mexico, and into parts of the Northwest.

A few severe storms are also possible Wednesday across portions of southern and southwestern Texas. Large hail and damaging winds will continue to be the main threats.

Severe Risk Ramps Back Up Going Into The Weekend

As we head into the weekend, a more substantial severe weather threat exists – and once again it’ll be centered over the central Plains. On Friday, we’re watching the chance of some strong storms from South Dakota down into Texas.

On Saturday it looks like the threat will ramp up across the central Plains, and the potential exists for another severe weather outbreak, like what we saw last weekend.

On Sunday, the threat of severe weather shifts to the upper Mississippi Valley, from the Twin Cities to St. Louis.

Heavy Rain Continues

The good news in this five day precipitation outlook? The precipitation coming to California – while it might not be much, any little bit is appreciated. The eye, though, once again to the central United States, where two or more inches of rain is possible through Sunday morning.

Today, flooding rains will be possible over parts of southern Texas, including the Houston and San Antonio areas.

The chance of flooding rains shifts over central Oklahoma and north central Texas on Wednesday, including the Oklahoma City and Abilene areas.

As we showed yesterday, some areas of the south have seen over a half a foot of rain over the past 24 days. This is raising river levels in some spots, and some are above major flood stage. More rain will only help the potential of river flooding worse.

(INTERACTIVE MAP: River Levels)

However, the rain can also be a good thing, helping to increase lake levels across portions of the south. Check out some of these increases over parts of western Oklahoma over the past 30 days. This is also helpful for the drought situation. The rain, though, may just be a little bit too much too quickly for these areas, having to deal with multiple chances of flooding.

Here’s the seven day forecast for the Oklahoma City area. Enjoy the sunshine today – storm chances return to the picture tomorrow and last into the weekend.

(CHECK OUT YOUR FORECAST: wx.aerisweather.com)

Remember you can always find me on Twitter (@dkayserwx) or on Facebook (Meteorologist D.J. Kayser).

– Meteorologist D.J. Kayser