National Look
We’re watching a busy weather map over the next few days. First, the threat of flooding rains continue along the Gulf Coast in places that have already seen over a half a foot of rain in the past few days. Second, a severe threat exists each day through Thursday across portions of the south. Third, something that isn’t exactly visible on the forecast loop above, but extreme fire danger exists over portion of the Northern Plains today. And fourth, we’re watching a storm system in the west that could bring feet of snow to some of the mountains. We’ll break down each of these below.
[TRACK STORMS: Interactive Radar]
Flooding Rains Continue
We’re looking at a potentially wide swath of 3″+ of rain from Texas into the Mid-Atlantic over the next five days, over the same areas that have seen heavy rain in the past few days and weeks. Parts of the northern Gulf Coast have already seen over 7″ of rain in the past few days.
We’ll continue to watch moisture from the Gulf of Mexico stream north and combine with a few disturbances that move across the area. Flooding rains are possible today over parts of the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Mobile, and up in the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic from Nashville to Charleston, WV.
Wednesday the threat of flooding rain shifts to the Montgomery and Atlanta areas as the southern storm system moves east.
On Thursday, we’ll be watching the potential of flooding along the Carolina coastline. Meanwhile, another system starts moving in and the threat of flooding rains will return again in southern Louisiana.
Severe Threat
We’ll also be watching the severe threat over the next few days. Today a marginal threat of severe weather exists from southern Texas along the northern Gulf Coast, and in parts of North Carolina. The main severe threats today will be large hail and damaging winds.
[CITIES UNDER THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT: Houston – Alexandria, LA – Charlotte]
Wednesday we’ll watch the next disturbance move off the Rockies, and a marginal risk of severe weather will exist from Colorado and Kansas into western Texas. Hail will be the main threat from any storms that turn severe.
[CITIES UNDER THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT: Garden City, KS – Amarillo – Midland]
The severe threat Thursday shifts east over much of central and eastern Texas. Damaging winds and large hail would be the main threats, but the potential of an isolated tornado will exist depending on how the severe situation develops.
[CITIES UNDER THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT: Dallas – San Antonio – Austin]
Fire Danger
We have an extreme fire threat over parts of South Dakota today in the pink shaded area, with a critical fire threat shaded in red from Arizona all the way into the Northern Plains. Today is the day to not start a fire, as any that are started will quickly spread with strong winds and dry conditions.
[MAP: Check Out Where Red Flag Warnings Are In Effect]
Western Snow
While it is mid-April, we are watching the potential of a snow storm forming out west over the next couple days with some areas under Winter Storm and Blizzard advisories. We are even watching the potential of snow in the Denver area heading into Thursday. Some upper higher elevation areas could see a foot or two of snow over the next couple days. What is also concerning is the potential the upper level low will hang out and slowly move east, prolonging the snow chance across the area.
[MAP: Latest Watches, Warnings, and Advisories]
Have a great Tuesday! Remember you can always find me on Twitter (@dkayserwx) or on Facebook (Meteorologist D.J. Kayser).
Meteorologist D.J. Kayser