Heavy Southwest Monsoonal Rains – National Weather Outlook For August 19, 2022

National Weather Forecast

The big story on Friday will be heavy monsoonal showers and storms in the Southwest that could lead to flooding. We’ll also be watching a stationary front in the Southern Plains/Southeast and a frontal system from the Great Lakes to the Central Plains. Both of those will produce storm activity.

Some of the heaviest rain through the first half of the weekend will be in the Southwest, where heavy monsoonal storms could bring at least 3” of rain to parts of Arizona and New Mexico. Flood Watches are in place across these areas due to the heavy rain and flood threat. Pockets of heavy rain will also be possible across the Deep South and Southeast and the upper Midwest.

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Tundra burns helped make the 2022 Alaska fire season one of the biggest since 1950

More from KTOO: “Alaska is closing out what is likely to be the state’s seventh-biggest wildfire season since 1950, wrapping up a summer notable for record-breaking fires in the tundra of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in the southwestern part of the state. In all, more than 3 million acres have been burned by wildfires this year, according to the federal-state Alaska Interagency Coordination Center. The 2022 total of 3.08 million acres, as of Friday, is slightly less than Alaska’s sixth-biggest season, when 3.189 million acres burned in 1990, according to University of Alaska Fairbanks data.”

Factory Shutdowns, Showers for Pigs: China’s Heat Wave Strains Economy

More from the New York Times: “Faced with China’s most searing heat wave in six decades, factories in the country’s southwest are being forced to close. A severe drought has shrunk rivers, disrupting the region’s supply of water and hydropower and prompting officials to limit electricity to businesses and homes. In two cities, office buildings were ordered to shut off the air conditioning to spare an overextended electrical grid, while elsewhere in southern China local governments urged residents and businesses to conserve energy. The rolling blackouts and factory shutdowns, which affected Toyota and Foxconn, a supplier for Apple, point to the ways that extreme weather is adding to China’s economic woes. The economy has been headed toward its slowest pace of growth in years, dragged down by the country’s stringent Covid policy of lockdowns, quarantines and travel restrictions, as consumers tightened spending and factories produced less. Youth unemployment has reached a record high, while trouble in the real estate sector has set off an unusual surge of public discontent.”

Deep Concern About Food Security in Eastern Africa

More from NASA’s Earth Observatory: “The rains have failed in Eastern Africa for four consecutive seasons. That has not happened in 40 years of satellite records. Scientists and aid agencies are now alerting the world to an unprecedented level of food insecurity in 2022 for Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. With forecasts suggesting the next rainy season will also be inadequate, climate and agriculture experts are advising governments and relief agencies to expect a significant need for food assistance. According to a July 29 report from the international Food Security and Nutrition Working Group, the worst drought in 70 years has left more than 16 million people across the Horn of Africa coping with a shortage of drinking water. Yields of key crops are down for the third year in a row, milk production is in decline, and more than 9 million livestock animals have died or been culled due to a lack of water and suitable forage land.”

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Thanks for checking in and have a great day! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter (@dkayserwx) and like me on Facebook (Meteorologist D.J. Kayser).

– D.J. Kayser