Severe thunderstorms, flood threat to persist across central, eastern US
Multiple rounds of thunderstorms this week can bring damaging wind gusts, large hail, isolated tornadoes and flash flooding from the Plains to the East Coast.
An Illinois man captured the moment a tornado tore through his home in Effingham on June 17 while he sheltered inside. The tornado destroyed the house, but the resident was not injured, according to local officials.
An active June pattern that has repeatedly unleashed severe thunderstorms and flooding across the central and eastern United States will continue through the upcoming week, keeping millions on alert for damaging weather from the Plains to the Atlantic coast.
The persistent storm track has already produced numerous episodes of severe weather and flash flooding this month, and little change is expected in the overall setup.
Following a barrage of severe weather reports spanning from Wyoming to northeastern Colorado and across much of Kansas on Saturday, the same storm responsible for the weekend's turbulent weather will shift into the Midwest on Sunday.
Communities from Oklahoma City to St. Louis, many of which have already dealt with multiple rounds of thunderstorms and localized flooding in recent weeks, will face another threat of severe weather and heavy rainfall. Damaging wind gusts, large hail, flooding downpours and a few tornadoes will be the primary concerns through Sunday night.
While the Central states will face a nearly daily risk for severe thunderstorms through the week, the greatest concern in the East will come during the first half of the week as a storm tracks out of the nation's midsection.
As the storm advances eastward on Monday, the severe weather threat will spread toward the Interstate 95 corridor. Cities from Raleigh to Philadelphia will be at risk for damaging thunderstorms capable of producing localized flash flooding and disruptive travel conditions.
At the same time, a cold front stretching from the mid-Atlantic to the South and back into the Plains will serve as an additional focus for thunderstorm development. Repeated rounds of storms along and ahead of the front could enhance rainfall totals in some locations.
Flooding concerns may be especially heightened across portions of the South, where recent rainfall has already left soils saturated and waterways running high. Some of the same areas that experienced flooding rainfall this past week from thunderstorm activity and former Tropical Rainstorm Arthur will once again face the risk of excessive rainfall. In these areas, it may take only a relatively modest amount of additional rain to trigger renewed flooding problems.
By Tuesday and through the middle of the week, the center of the nation's severe weather activity will shift back toward the Plains.
A series of subtle disturbances moving out of the Rockies and into the Plains will interact with warm, moisture-rich air, setting the stage for daily rounds of thunderstorms. While not every community will experience severe weather, the setup will support repeated opportunities for strong to severe storms across the region.
Both Tuesday and Wednesday are expected to feature similar risk areas, extending from eastern Colorado into portions of Nebraska, Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. The primary threats will be large hail and damaging wind gusts, with some storms capable of producing winds approaching the AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 85 mph.
The severe weather threat is expected to expand somewhat on Thursday as another round of storms develop across a broader portion of the Plains. The risk area is expected to stretch from the Oklahoma City metropolitan area northward into eastern Montana.
Damaging wind gusts, hail and flooding downpours will once again be the primary hazards as thunderstorms sweep across the region. Given the repeated nature of the storm pattern, localized flooding concerns may continue to increase in areas that receive multiple rounds of heavy rainfall throughout the week.
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