Severe storms to bombard central, eastern US into new week
Thunderstorms will be unrelenting for millions of people from the Midwest to the mid-Atlantic, with daily rounds of severe weather in the forecast, including the chance for tornadoes.
Tens of millions of people from the Midwest to the East will be at risk for severe weather on a daily basis into early next week.
Tens of millions of people will be at risk for severe weather on a daily basis into Tuesday as thunderstorms continue to prowl vast areas of the central and eastern United States. Some of the storms will be potent enough to threaten lives and property, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
August typically brings a downturn in the coverage and intensity of severe weather as the daylight hours begin to shorten and the sun's intensity decreases. However, a pattern more typical of June or July will continue through the middle of August, thanks to an unusually strong and southward-displaced jet stream that has been laden with powerful disturbances.
Severe weather to shift back to central US on Sunday
As a stronger storm system drops southeastward from Canada, a new flare-up of severe weather will develop over the Heartland on Sunday.
Nearly a dozen states and close to 20 million people will be at risk for severe weather by the afternoon and evening hours with a concentrated zone of potentially damaging and dangerous thunderstorms from eastern Kansas to much of Missouri and southern Illinois.
Monday's severe threat to affect similar area as Saturday, but may be more intense
As the storm continues to strengthen while pivoting across the Great Lakes region on Monday, people across the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic region will need to stay alert for severe weather, AccuWeather Meteorologist Joseph Bauer said.
Severe weather on Monday will put more than 40 million people at risk from Illinois and Tennessee to Pennsylvania on southward to North Carolina. The most widespread severe weather will impact areas from central Kentucky to southwestern Pennsylvania.
"This storm will pull warm, moist air northward from the Gulf while cool, dry air works in from the west," Bauer said. "The clashing of these air masses and [an] intense jet stream overhead will lead to a heightened risk for severe weather and perhaps tornadoes in the Ohio Valley on Monday."
It is possible that thunderstorms may stretch from west to east over a portion of the Ohio Valley on Monday. Part of this zone that includes Kentucky, West Virginia and the southern parts of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio is hilly and has been hit by disastrous flash flooding in recent years.
Should the storms set up like a train and lead to repeating downpours, the potential for flash flooding of small streams may increase exponentially in the Ohio Valley, Bauer said.
The same storm system will kick up unusually strong gusty winds and wave action around the Great Lakes outside of any thunderstorm activity. Cooler air associated with the storm system may set off waterspouts, especially on lakes Michigan, Erie and Ontario, into the middle of the week.
"How quickly the leading edge of the cooler air spreads to the Interstate 95 corridor of the Northeast will determine the scope of severe weather in the zone from Washington, D.C., to New York City and Boston on Tuesday," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson said.
If the front pushes in late Monday night or early Tuesday, severe weather may be limited or non-existent in the region. However, if the front is slower, severe weather may unfold along the heavily-populated corridor of the East Coast Tuesday afternoon and evening, Anderson explained.
Even if severe thunderstorms are limited to the Southeast states on Tuesday, more than 20 million people will still be at risk, including folks in and around the Atlanta area.
Warmth may build as storms diminish later in August
The pattern of frequent downpours and severe thunderstorms may ease during the second half of the month, according to AccuWeather's long-range team.
"The heat dome that has been occupying Texas and the southern Plains much of this summer will try to expand northward into the Midwest, perhaps starting next weekend," DaSilva said.
As this occurs, the jet stream would retreat north to a more typical position across Canada and allow longer stretches of dry weather across the Midwestern and Eastern states, DaSilva explained.
The same setup would allow temperatures to surge above the historical average in parts of the Midwest and Northeast.
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