Unstable atmosphere to trigger potentially severe storms, snow in Midwest late this week

By Courtney Spamer, AccuWeather meteorologist

Updated Oct. 6, 2019 2:43 PM

The same storm diving through the northern Rockies this week and bringing another wave of snow will make its way into the Great Lakes, sending wet weather through parts of the Midwest.

The warm air across the East through midweek, and the cold Canadian air behind this storm will make for quite a storm.

"The storm will strengthen as it moves into the Midwest, making it a potent storm," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Isaac Longley.

Precipitation will arrive in parts of Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota on Thursday, becoming more expansive into Friday. By Friday afternoon, precipitation will be stretched from Ontario, Canada to northeastern Texas.

Along the path of the storms center, gusty winds may cause wind-whipped rain along with chilly conditions. This could reduce visibility for motorists on the roadways.

Locations across Minnesota and northern Wisconsin will start off as rain Thursday night and Friday. But plummeting temperatures on the back side of the storm may force the rain to transition to snow or a rain-snow mix.

This will be the first snow of the season for most in the region.

Farther south, rain will be accompanied by rumbles of thunder. Given the unstable atmosphere from northern Missouri and central Indiana on south, some thunderstorms will have the potential to turn severe.

Other than cloud to ground lightning, the greatest severe weather threats look to be flooding in low lying areas and locally damaging wind gusts.

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For the start of the weekend, the majority of the storms from Indiana to Texas and Louisiana will have dissipated; however, there could still be some lingering showers across parts of Michigan for Saturday.

Meanwhile, the center of the storm will remain stalled near Lake Superior for much of the weekend. This could allow for lingering snow and rain showers into Sunday for some.

Behind the wet weather, cooler air will hold over much of the Plains and Midwest through the weekend.

Download the free AccuWeather app to see when snow could impact your area. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.