Bulk of early week storms to miss southeastern US drought areas
A man from Cocoa, Florida, didn't care about the heavy downpour happening on June, 13, as he trimmed his lawn. We will never know why the man had to cut his lawn that day, but we admire his determination.
Showers and thunderstorms dampening the Tennessee Valley and Florida Peninsula through early week will largely miss the drought areas of the Southeast.
Downpours last week eliminated the severe drought in southeastern Georgia and southern South Carolina.
Savannah, Georgia, received 6.85 inches of rain from June 11-12. The city typically picks up around 6 inches during the entire month.
So much rain fell in Charleston, South Carolina, that streets became flooded on Wednesday.
Even with this rain, widespread abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions continue from the Florida Panhandle through much of Georgia and the coastal Carolinas, according to the latest outlook from the United States Drought Monitor.
No meaningful rainfall is forecast along this corridor into Monday night, which is good news for those with outdoor plans, but bad news for the ongoing drought.
Instead, downpours will congregate to the northwest and south of the drought zone.
A slow-moving storm system will bring frequent downpours to the Florida Peninsula during much of this week, throwing a wrench in plans for anyone hoping to head to the beach or amusement parks.
Thunderstorms and their associated lightning strikes will threaten anyone who has not sought proper shelter in a building or hardtop vehicle.
Last week, lightning struck and killed a motorcyclist traveling along Interstate 95 in Florida.
A separate zone of storminess will set up from the South Central states to the Tennessee Valley, Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic through much of this week.
AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok expects showers and thunderstorms to become more widespread across the Southeast, including in the drought zone, heading into the middle of the week.
While a widespread heavy rain event similar to what occurred last week is not anticipated, any increase in showers and thunderstorms will help to water lawns and fields and ease long-term precipitation deficits.
Download the free AccuWeather app to see the exact forecast for your community. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
