Severe storms to rattle, rain to flood southern Plains
Thunderstorms may trigger tornadoes, while downpours may result in flash flooding over portions of the southern Plains into Friday night.
The storms that led to destructive tornadoes and floods in places like Oklahoma and Missouri are heading east across the Midwest.
The same storm responsible for dumping feet of snow on Colorado and New Mexico will continue to pummel portions of the southern Plains with localized flooding downpours and severe thunderstorms into Friday night, AccuWeather meteorologists say. Even though thunderstorms will be less intense on Saturday over the Mississippi Valley, there will still be areas of drenching rain.
Moisture near the ground, combined with a sweep of air several thousand feet above, driven by strong winds will boost thunderstorms from central and eastern Texas to Oklahoma into Friday night.
This setup is similar to that of the spring, except the sun's heating is less strong.
Still, the storms will be strong enough to trigger damaging wind gusts, damaging hail and torrential downpours. A few of the strongest storms can spawn tornadoes, which can occur after dark for a time on Friday, adding to the danger--including to those attending area football games.
The downpours within the thunderstorms and in areas just to the north and west of the severe weather can be heavy enough to trigger flash urban and small stream flooding. Motorists should use caution into Friday night as some roads may be subject to rapidly rising water.
Outside of flash flooding, the rain will be beneficial due to a broad area of abnormally dry to drought conditions that had been getting worse before the start of November.
Some soaking rain will fall on the Mississippi Valley on Saturday due to the Rockies storm and a plume of tropical moisture associated in part with Rafael that will remain over the Gulf of Mexico.
Downpours earlier this week dumped 6-10 inches of rain on parts of eastern Missouri, which sent the Meramec River to major flood stage near and west of St. Louis. The flash flooding occurred on Election Day and took the lives of several people, including two poll workers.
Heavy rainfall in Missouri sent rivers swelling beyond their banks from Nov. 4-5, killing at least three people.
The rain on Saturday is forecast to be less intense than that of the Plains into Friday night and earlier this week. However, despite long-term drought in much of the region, there can still be incidents of dangerous flash flooding.
The same storm system will snap the long-running dry streak in the Northeast later this weekend to early next week. Some parts of the Northeast have not had enough rain to do more than briefly dampen the ground in two months.
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