Storms to pack a punch with damaging winds, flooding downpours this week
The severe weather siege will continue across the South Central states right through the extended holiday weekend, AccuWeather meteorologists say.
Neighbors and volunteers are helping survivors who lost their homes to a powerful EF3 tornado that sliced through St. Louis on May 16.
The South Central states are enduring a prolonged stretch of daily severe weather, and AccuWeather meteorologists warn that the stormy pattern shows no signs of letting up.
Tree-snapping winds, destructive hail and flash flooding will be among the daily risks to life and property during a busy time of year for outdoor plans.
“This setup is particularly concerning given all of the outdoor activities, travel and gatherings happening around Memorial Day,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said. “Anyone in the risk zones over the coming days should pay close attention to evolving weather conditions.”
Heavy thunderstorms with locally damaging wind gusts can extend as far to the east as the Southeast coast on Monday. The thunderstorms will ride along a boundary separating abnormally cool air to the north with warm, humid air to the south.
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On Memorial Day, the threat of severe thunderstorms will shift slightly southward, moving out of Colorado and Kansas but persisting from Texas and southern Oklahoma eastward to Georgia.
Holiday cookouts, remembrance services and other outdoor plans could be significantly impacted by the weather from Dallas to Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; and Atlanta.
In addition to the thunderstorms unleashing heavy rainfall, strong wind gusts that can knock out power and snap trees will remain possible. An isolated tornado or two cannot be ruled out.
As the thunderstorms hit repeatedly, the risk of significant flash flooding will mount, especially across the Ozark Mountains, as the holiday weekend progresses.
"Those outdoors should use extreme caution as storms brew due to the risk of lightning strikes," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. "Campers should avoid setting up along small streams that could be prone to flash flooding. A downpour less than a mile upstream could produce a wall of water that quickly inundates low-lying areas."
AccuWeather's long-range team expects thunderstorms to continue daily across the southern tier of the nation through the middle of this week, posing a continued risk of flash flooding, as well as localized damage. It may take until the start of June for a drier pattern to take hold of the region.
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