Record warmth to grip Central US early this week
Record warmth will continue over the southern Plains as well as many areas farther to the north after strong winds and dry fuels stoked a wildfire risk over the weekend.
A Texas firefighter breaks down how they’ve been handling the wind-driven Smokehouse Creek Fire, which is now the largest wildfire ever in the state of Texas.
Resurging record warmth will continue to challenge record highs after gusty winds raised the risk of rapidly spreading wildfires in additional territory of the central United States over the weekend, AccuWeather meteorologists warn. Gusty winds will ease early this week, diminishing the risk of rapidly spreading wildfires, and thunderstorms that erupt through Monday night may also turn severe in some areas.
At more than a million acres burned, the deadly Smokehouse Fire in the Texas Panhandle became the largest wildfire in the Lone Star State's history and is now the fifth-largest wildfire in acreage for the entire U.S. on record and the second largest in the past 100 years.
Cool, moist air with areas of rain and wet snow helped to ease the volatile situation over parts of the southern Plains on Thursday and Thursday night. Over the weekend, the temperature increase, gusty winds, and lowering humidity levels combined to make the three main weather ingredients for wildfires.
Dozens of cities from Texas to Michigan will challenge or break record high daytime and warm night minimum temperature records through Monday in the Central states.
"Temperatures will surge to 15-30 degrees above the historical average for early March from much of the Great Plains to the Mississippi Valley and much of the Midwest," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson said. Daily record temperatures will also be challenged.
Temperatures approached the 80-degree Fahrenheit mark around Amarillo, Texas, Oklahoma City and St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri over the weekend. Temperatures climbed into the upper 70s in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday. Daytime temperatures in Minneapolis surged into the 70s on Sunday, and temperatures may hit 70 in both Chicago and Detroit by Monday.
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Thunderstorms to return to central US
Part of the storm from the Pacific coast will break off and make a northeastward run from the northern Rockies to the southern Canada prairies and woodlands early this week.
Gusty showers and thunderstorms may become strong enough to trigger power outages and property damage on Sunday in Wisconsin and northern Michigan. The same storm may lead to heavy snow and blizzard conditions from the northern tier of Montana and North Dakota to southern parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba through Monday.
During early this week, cooler air on northerly breezes will push southward across the Plains, AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex DaSilva said.
"This flip in the wind direction and lower temperatures should help firefighters and slow the progression of any wildfires burning," DaSilva stated.
As the same cold front advances into a zone of warm and more moist air over the Mississippi Valley, the risk of severe thunderstorms will increase. AccuWeather meteorologists are highlighting a zone from southwestern Texas to the Louisiana coastline northward to southwestern Missouri later Monday for storms to potentially become damaging with hail, strong winds and downpours.
A separate zone of heavy thunderstorms may set up farther north and include the major metros of St. Louis and Chicago around or shortly after Monday's commute home.
Atmosphere clinging to amazing warmth in March
The resurging warmth follows one of the warmest meteorological winters (Dec. to Feb.) on record for much of the Midwest.
Generally, a temperature departure from the historical average of 2 degrees or more is considered significant for a month or longer period. Multiple locations in the Upper Midwest have experienced temperature departures above average, ranging from 6-14 degrees for a three-month period.
The amount of ice on the Great Lakes, which typically peaks in early March, is near-record low levels and practically non-existent.
Despite a cool push over the Plains this week, the overall pattern of well-above-historical average temperatures will continue for much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation in March.
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