Memorial Day Forecast – National Weather Outlook For May 31, 2021

National Weather Forecast

For Memorial Day Monday, we’ll be watching a system in the southern United States bringing the chance of showers and thunderstorms from the Four Corners region through the southern and central Plains, along with some snow mixed in for the Colorado Rockies. A cold front in the Great Lakes will bring some storm chances. Meanwhile, an area of low pressure near New England will bring a shower chance to the region.

The heaviest rain from Sunday through Tuesday will fall across portions of the southern Plains where at least 2-4” could fall. We’ll also see the potential of over an inch of rain in New England and across portions of Florida.

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NASA’s Curiosity rover spots strange, colorful clouds on Mars

More from LiveScience: “It might look like a postcard from Arizona, but this snapshot shows something much more exotic: the planet Mars, as seen by NASA’s Curiosity rover. The image is a combination of 21 individual photographs the rover took recently to study a strange type of wispy cloud over its Gale Crater home. Scientists realized two Earth years ago that the cloud type was forming earlier in the Martian year than they expected. So this Martian year, Curiosity was watching for the early clouds, and it was not disappointed. The clouds did indeed show up beginning in late January, when the robotic skywatcher began documenting the wispy, ice-rich clouds scattering sunlight in sometimes-colorful displays. ”I always marvel at the colors that show up: reds and greens and blues and purples,” Mark Lemmon, an atmospheric scientist with the Space Science Institute in Colorado, said in a NASA statement. “It’s really cool to see something shining with lots of color on Mars.””

Drought saps agricultural economy in Southwest Colorado

More from The Durango Herald: “The grim reality of major irrigation shortages this year in Southwest Colorado is setting in for farmers, water managers and fish habitat. Irrigators tied to McPhee Reservoir contracts will receive just 5% to 10% of their normal supply, said Ken Curtis, general manager for the Dolores Water Conservancy District. The shortages affect full-service users in the water district in Montezuma and Dolores counties, the Ute Mountain Ute Farm and Ranch and the downstream fishery. The water district said no supplemental irrigation supplies will be available to the senior water-rights holders.”

Heatwave deaths set to soar as UK summers become hotter

More from The Guardian: “Britain is failing to protect its vulnerable citizens from the threat of intensifying heatwaves, health experts warned last week. Thousands of preventable deaths could be triggered every year because simple measures to keep houses and care homes cool have not been implemented. As global heating worsens and heatwaves become more frequent, the problem is likely to worsen significantly – unless urgent action is taken, they say. Those most likely to suffer include the very young, the elderly and people suffering from chronic conditions such as asthma. Last week, the Met Office revealed there was now a more than 40% chance the annual average global temperature will reach 1.5C above pre-industrial levels at some time in the next five years as greenhouse gas emissions from factories, power plants and cars continue unabated.”

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– D.J. Kayser