AccuWeather forecasters raise threat level for severe storms in the South
Extreme meteorologist Reed Timmer describes the severe weather threat to the Southeast on June 14.
Rounds of severe weather have pummeled the central and southern United States with destructive hail, high winds and even tornadoes over the past few days, and AccuWeather meteorologists say the volatile weather pattern will persist into late this week.
The corridor from eastern Colorado to the Southeast coast will remain active with thunderstorms erupting daily, including some that can turn damaging. This zone lies within an area of clashing air masses, with cool air to the north and warm, sticky air to the south — a contrast that will give the thunderstorms an additional boost of energy.
Although locally feisty thunderstorms can occur anywhere from the High Plains to the Southeastern states over the coming days, AccuWeather meteorologists are honing in on key zones where the severe weather risk is highest each day.
"The positioning of storms each day will be highly dependent upon exactly where the previous day's storms develop," AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert said.
Thunderstorms were already causing travel delays for air passengers in Dallas early Tuesday. Stormy weather can cause additional flight disruptions at the major hub as the week progresses in addition to places farther east such as Atlanta.
During the middle of the week, the Southeast will be the focus for severe weather, rather than the Plains states.
"Storms through the middle of the week will be able to unload large hail, heavy rain, damaging wind gusts and even spin up an isolated tornado or two," Gilbert said.
Traveling along stretches of interstates 10, 20, 55, 65, 75 and 95 could be difficult at times for motorists as a result of downpours reducing visibility.
On Wednesday morning, forecasters added a high risk for severe weather from southeastern Arkansas and northeastern Louisiana to central Mississippi and south-central Alabama. It is in this area where damaging wind gusts are most likely and there is an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 90 mph.
AccuWeather meteorologists have outlined a high-risk thunderstorm zone from northeastern Louisiana and southeastern Arkansas to the Alabama border of western Georgia for storm intensity into Wednesday night.
"There is the potential for a long-lived, high wind and torrential rain thunderstorm event, referred to as a derecho, in the high-risk zone into Wednesday night," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said. These fast-moving thunderstorm complexes often behave like inland hurricanes and tend to produce damaging winds along a swath of hundreds of miles.
On Thursday and Thursday night, there may be two separate areas where severe weather could erupt.
One zone will focus along part of the Gulf Coast, with cities such as Pensacola, Florida, at risk for intense storms. Storms could even track toward the Atlantic coast, threatening cities like Jacksonville. The central Plains region may be another area where locally damaging storms could develop.
As the week progresses, AccuWeather meteorologists are concerned about another risk from the repeating downpours.
"One of the primary threats from repeated rounds of storms over similar locations day after day will be localized flash flooding. Portions of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi could experience rounds of storms nearly every day into the weekend," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski said.
"Thus, in addition to concerns about severe threats such as hail and damaging winds, cities like Jackson, Mississippi, and Montgomery, Alabama, could face localized street and highway flooding as these rounds of storms dump heavy rainfall," Pydynowski said.
From Friday to early next week, there is the likelihood for additional rounds of severe thunderstorms that travel from parts of the southern Plains to the Gulf Coast region on the edge of a building dome of heat centered on Texas.
“Some of the stronger complexes of thunderstorms may be fast-moving and could produce high winds and heavy rain along a large swath,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. “Weather patterns of this nature have the potential to produce derechos.”
Within the heat dome, temperatures may surge to over 100 F.
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