By Brandon Buckingham, AccuWeather Meteorologist
Updated Jul. 24, 2020 10:38 AM
Although the tropics are heating up with Tropical Storms Hanna and Gonzalo in the Atlantic basin, and Hurricane Douglas in the Pacific, additional threatening weather in the near future has meteorologists closely monitoring another region of the country in the coming days. Across the northern tier of the country, severe thunderstorms are expected to threaten communities to end the week.
A disturbance at the jet stream level of the atmosphere will be responsible for a multi-day threat for severe weather across the central and northern Plains as well as the Midwest both Friday and Saturday.
This disturbance has already been responsible for thunderstorms and localized flash flooding across the Southwest and Intermountain West, bringing about an ample supply of monsoon moisture to the region.
As the disturbance rolls eastward out of the Front Range and into the High Plains Friday afternoon, AccuWeather meteorologists will be closely monitoring the threat for explosive thunderstorm development across northeast Colorado, as well as western Nebraska and South Dakota.
The Black Hills of South Dakota, having already experienced a fair share of thunderstorm activity this summer, may encounter rapidly developing thunderstorms during the afternoon hours.
From Sturgis to Rapid City, South Dakota; Scottsbluff, Nebraska; and possibly as far south as Sterling, Colorado, feisty thunderstorm activity is possible in the vicinity as storms initiate. Those traveling along or between interstates 80 and 90 across this region will want to closely monitor the sky as they drive through.
Although activity won't be as widespread, thunderstorms may initiate as far west as the Interstate 25 corridor across southeastern Wyoming and Colorado before continuing their trek eastward Friday afternoon.
Into the evening hours, plenty of atmospheric fuel will be in place across the Plains for thunderstorm activity to continue. It is possible that individual thunderstorms will combine into a larger complex, bringing along a more widespread threat for severe weather.
Related:
Cities that may be in the path of this complex include Fargo, North Dakota; Pierre, South Dakota; as well as Valentine, Nebraska.
A thunderstorm complex of this caliber will be capable of producing damaging wind gusts, torrential downpours, hail and frequent lightning well into the nighttime hours.
Atmospheric conditions are expected to remain relatively unchanged across the northern Plains and Midwest into Saturday, resulting in another threat for severe weather across some of the same areas.
The threat on Saturday is expected to stretch farther eastward to include portions of the Midwest as well. Once again, damaging wind gusts, potentially large hail, torrential downpours and even an isolated tornado will all be possible from the expected thunderstorms Saturday.
Excluding the threat for damaging wind gusts and large hail, the torrential rainfall rates will prove beneficial for area farmers across the western extent of the Corn Belt across western Minnesota and Iowa, as drought conditions have expanded as a result of recent dryness. This expected rainfall is coming at a time when the corn crop needs ample amounts of soil moisture to promote healthy growth.
The seemingly daily rounds of thunderstorm activity across this region of the country may finally take a more extended break for the end of the weekend and into early next week as an area of high pressure settles in. This slightly more refreshing air mass set to encompass the northern Plains and Upper Midwest will also offer a brief reprieve from the oppressive heat and humidity observed recently.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
No comments:
Post a Comment