Lightning strikes, wildfires, damaging wind, blowing dust and in some cases flash flooding are all traits of the spotty storms affecting the interior West into the weekend. (Photos.com image)
With soaring temperatures in the West, towering clouds have and will continue to bring locally nasty thunderstorms into the weekend.
The spotty, but severe storms will stretch from Arizona and interior southern California to Idaho and Montana this weekend.
While high pressure will generally work to suppress thunderstorm activity from occurring in many areas, the few places that get a storm can really get clobbered.
It is a case of what goes down must go up.
The air is generally sinking over the region as a result of the high pressure. However, due to the intense heating of the ground, pockets of hot, rising air can quickly cool and condense into towering clouds and locally gusty thunderstorms.
Much of the activity will favor the high ground through the weekend, but there can be a few exceptions.
In the days ahead, a rejuvenated Ernesto from the Atlantic is likely to become Hector in the Eastern Pacific, after emerging on Mexico's southwest coast.
There is a remote chance that part of that massive field of moisture from the system will wander northward into northern Mexico then perhaps into part of the Southwest United States. If so, thunderstorms could pack more of a punch, bearing heavy rainfall on more regional basis starting later next week.
The potential for such an event was entertained prior to the start of the hurricane season.
AccuWeather.com meteorologists will continue to monitor the tropics as far as the potential for Hector and other systems.
Isolated severe thunderstorms slammed part of the Southwest Thursday evening.
Bullhead City, Ariz., was hit with wind gusts near 70 mph, which kicked up a tremendous amount of blowing dust. Visibility was reduced to 30 feet in nearby Laughlin, Nev., during the storm. The storm knocked out power in Mohave Valley, Ariz., and a large part of Bullhead City.
In a small area, storms produced flash flooding and hail. Water swept across roadways in Mohave County, Ariz. Vehicle traffic to Grand Canyon was halted for a time.
Meanwhile, in Valley Wells, San Bernardino County, Calif., a wildfire was ignited by a lightning strike.
Severe thunderstorms with the risk of a few tornadoes will advance eastward across the northern Plains and Upper Midwest into Friday.
A dangerous outbreak of severe storms will strike the northern High Plains and Canadian Prairies on Wednesday.
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Evacuations and closed roads as wildfires continue to burn across the United States.
Join us on Thursday for AccuWeather LIVE as we will discuss the debate of climate change and hurricane frequency and the top five things you need to know about summer weather.
A hot and humid weekend is shaping up for Chicagoland just in time for the official start of summer, while severe thunderstorms fire nearby to the north.
Tropical Storm Barry formed over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico and may hit the Mexico state of Veracruz Thursday.
| Extreme | Location | |
|---|---|---|
| High | N/A | |
| Low | N/A | |
| Precip | N/A |
Alpena, MI (1992)
Wet snow mixed with rain during the afternoon
hours.
Starksville, GA (1862)
Civil war drought: "The failure of oats in the
region is total. Some wheat will be made but
the crop is light and inferior."
Juneau, AK (1991)
Record warm 84 degrees; the old record was 83
set in 1958. This was one of ten times
that Juneau has reached 80 degrees over the
last 49 years. It was hot over northern
Alaska as well with Fairbanks hitting 91.
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