Dangerous flash flooding, severe storms threaten Plains to Midwest this weekend
Multiple rounds of heavy rain and severe storms are expected to bring dangerous flash flooding, large hail, and damaging winds across the Plains and Upper Midwest this weekend.
People often underestimate flash floods. AccuWeather’s Geoff Cornish has tips on how to stay safe and know the dangers.
As a large heat dome builds from the Great Lakes to the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada, rounds of heavy downpours will increase the risk of dangerous flash flooding from parts of the Plains to the Upper Midwest from this weekend through early next week.
Inches of rain are expected in two to three rounds of heavy downpours in a corridor from Kansas to Wisconsin. Significant ponding may occur on portions of major highways, segments of Interstates 35, 70, 80 and 90, causing blocked lanes and full stoppages in some areas.
Rainfall rates will vary with each round but can reach 1 to 3 inches per hour at times, which is sufficient to trigger urban flooding in poorly drained areas and rapid rises on small streams.
Major cities potentially affected by flash flooding include:
•Kansas: Topeka
•Missouri: Kansas City
•Iowa: Des Moines, Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque
•Illinois: Rockford, Moline
•Wisconsin: Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay, La Crosse
Three-day rainfall totals of 1 to 4 inches from Saturday to Monday are expected over a broad area from northeastern Kansas to northern Michigan. Within this zone, a stripe of 4-to-8-inch rainfall is forecast with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 11 inches, which will encompass southeastern Iowa, southwestern Wisconsin and northern Missouri.
Where rain has been limited in recent weeks, a reasonable amount of moisture will be welcomed as many crops, including corn, reach maturity. However, excessive rainfall during the event could lead to flooded fields and lost revenue.
Severe weather risk to advance in central US
As cooler, less humid air advances southeastward from central Canada, thunderstorms will continue to erupt along the boundary between the cooler and hotter air masses.
Severe thunderstorms from late Thursday through Thursday night produced large hail and damaging wind gusts from Montana to the Dakotas. There were dozens of reports of hail up to golf ball- and egg-size, along with wind gusts reaching 91 mph, equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane.
Thunderstorms will be focused from central and northeastern Nebraska to southern Saskatchewan, Manitoba and western Ontario into Friday night.
Within this area, severe weather is forecast to be more concentrated from northeastern South Dakota and eastern North Dakota to northwestern Minnesota, southeastern Manitoba and southwestern Ontario. In this zone, hail ranging from golf ball to baseball size is possible, with wind gusts of 70 to 80 mph and possibly a few tornadoes.
On Saturday, the likelihood of some severe thunderstorm activity will extend from eastern Colorado to northwestern Illinois, much of Wisconsin and northern Michigan.
The major cities of Chicago, Milwaukee, and Kansas City, Missouri, are threatened by severe weather on Saturday, but the worst of it may hold off until later in the day or evening.
On Sunday, as the advance of the cool air slows to a crawl and rounds of heavy rain ramp up, some severe thunderstorm activity is forecast to linger in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin to eastern Colorado.
However, some severe thunderstorms will be possible in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, southern Kansas and northeastern New Mexico.
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