Flash flood threat returns as storms drench central, eastern US
Slow-moving thunderstorms will dump inches of rain across parts of the central and eastern U.S. through the week, raising the risk of flash flooding and travel delays. Pockets of severe weather are also in the offing.
AccuWeather’s Geoff Cornish says showers and thunderstorms will soak the mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the U.S. from mid- to late week, bringing the risk of localized flash flooding.
A busy pattern of showers and thunderstorms will drench parts of the central and eastern United States through the end of the week. Some communities could receive a couple of inches of rain in just a few hours, raising the risk of flash flooding.
One area of greatest concern will stretch across parts of the Plains and Midwest through Thursday, including Chicago.
A slow-moving front will trigger showers and thunderstorms that repeatedly track from southwest to northeast. This setup can cause heavy rain to fall over the same locations for hours.
Some storms along the front could become severe, especially from Thursday afternoon through night, from southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma through eastern Missouri. The main hazards with Thursday's activity will be hail, flooding downpours and damaging wind gusts. Downpours are likely to linger across the central part of the Plains, Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley into the weekend.
Meanwhile, moisture will increase from Florida and the northeastern Gulf Coast northward through the Appalachians and along the Eastern Seaboard by midweek. Weather systems will tend to bunch up in the East, with high pressure over the Atlantic nosing westward, a front crawling eastward from the Mississippi Valley, and a storm at the jet stream level hanging out over the Southeastern states.
Areas of showers and thunderstorms will expand northward through Saturday, following Tuesday's dry, cool and sunny weather in the Northeast.
Where sunshine dominates for several hours, highs will climb into the mid-80s to mid-90s F during the second half of the week.
Paired with the uptick in moisture and humidity, AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures may approach the 100-degree Fahrenheit mark in some spots.
Areas with persistent clouds and frequent thunderstorms may remain in the upper 70s to mid-80s.
Showers and thunderstorms will tend to develop in a south-to-north corridor along the western edge of an area of high pressure parked just off the East Coast. Some of the storms can bring locally gusty winds that can cause tree damage and power outages.
Similar to the setup over parts of the Heartland, repeated or slow-moving thunderstorms could dump several inches of rain in just a few hours. That could trigger flash flooding, rapid rises on small streams and flooding on streets and in low-lying areas where drainage systems become overwhelmed.
Most storms will develop during the afternoon and early evening. However, some areas could experience heavy rain at any hour, disrupting both the morning and evening commutes.
Similar weather patterns have occasionally allowed weak tropical disturbances to move into the Southeast from the Atlantic or northern Caribbean. AccuWeather hurricane experts are monitoring this area for potential tropical development between Aug. 9 and 15.
While these systems usually produce little wind, they can dramatically increase rainfall totals and significantly raise the risk of flash flooding.
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