Severe weather to keep pounding parts of US into the weekend
Rounds of severe weather will target a large swath of the southern Plains through the end of the week. Heavy rain will help ease drought concerns across the region.
Severe thunderstorms will continue hammering the same zone of the central United States amid an active week for the region. AccuWeather meteorologists warn that the most significant risks will target communities from Texas to Arkansas into Friday night. Farther east, locally disruptive storms are likely in the Southeast this weekend and beyond.
The zone from Texas to Arkansas has been hit repeatedly by powerful thunderstorms that spawned large hail, high winds and tornadoes already this week.
The Interstate 30 corridor from near Dallas to Little Rock, Arkansas, faces a moderate risk of severe weather, including the threats of large hail and damaging wind gusts, according to AccuWeather forecasters.
However, any thunderstorm from western Texas to southeastern Arkansas, northwestern Louisiana, southwestern Oklahoma and eastern Arkansas can become severe with AccuWeather Local StormMax™ gusts of 80 mph.
Motorists venturing through city streets, rural roads and segments of I-20 and I-35 should be prepared for sudden drops in visibility and high water.
Any non-flooding rainfall will be beneficial in areas that have become abnormally dry. Parts of western and central Texas and eastern New Mexico are in the grips of extreme and exceptional long-term drought.
More storms to rumble this weekend in the southern US
During the weekend, thunderstorm activity will target the Southeast states.
"Thunderstorm activity in the Southeast this weekend will resemble the more typical summertime fare, where a handful of storms can turn severe, rather than large lines or big pockets of intense storms," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bill Deger said.
Saturday's heavy, gusty thunderstorm activity will stretch from eastern Louisiana to western North Carolina, with much of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia in the thundery zone.
The storms will ramp up with the heating of the day and slowly decline at night. With that, the most likely time for airline delays will be during Saturday afternoon and evening, including at one of the busiest airports in the U.S. Atlanta International Airport.
A small number of storms on Saturday may bring localized strong wind gusts and flash flooding. However, a few incidents of pea- to marble-sized hail will be possible, as well as a brief waterspout near the Gulf coast and an isolated short-lived tornado inland in the Southeast.
Thunderstorms will ignite along much of the Gulf and southern Atlantic coasts on Sunday. However, a few storms may erupt as far to the north as I-20.
"With more people enjoying outdoor activities this time of the year, especially graduations, weddings and camping trips, storms will still pose real hazards," Deger said. "Lightning and intense downpours will be the main threats this weekend."
As a testament that a thunderstorm does not have to be severe to be dangerous occurred on Monday. A lightning strike in Bosque County, Texas, located south of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, killed one man and injured his six-year-old son as the pair were walking home from a school bus stop, The Dallas Morning News reported.
As a general rule, if thunder can be heard, there is the risk of a lightning strike anywhere in the vicinity. Forecasters urge people to keep an eye out for changing weather conditions and have the means to receive thunderstorm watches and warnings on their mobile devices.
Picnic pavilions, boats and golf carts are not safe places to seek shelter during a thunderstorm, experts warn. Move indoors and away from windows as storms approach.
Monitoring Florida waters for tropical activity
Looking ahead into next week, the southeastern corner of the U.S. will likely be a sore spot for drenching, gusty thunderstorms as a storm forms in the upper part of the atmosphere. AccuWeather meteorologists say there is even the potential for tropical development in Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean waters surrounding Florida during the Memorial Day weekend. AccuWeather meteorologists, led by Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski, warned of potential early-season tropical development in this zone in their 2023 seasonal forecast.
Even if a tropical system does not take shape in this area late this month or early in June, seas will build, surf may become dangerous, and downpours, while needed to alleviate drought concerns, may foil outdoor plans.
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