Heat, severe storms to roar back into north-central US by midweek

The taste of September across the north-central United States will give way to a resurgence of heat, steamy air and severe weather by midweek.

As the high pressure responsible for ushering in the unseasonably cool air shifts eastward, the door will open for warmer and more humid air to surge northward on Tuesday.

Temperatures across the northern Plains on Tuesday are expected to soar 15 to 30 degrees above Saturday’s highs. After being held to the middle 60s F on Saturday in Bismarck, North Dakota, temperatures will rise to near 90 F on Tuesday.

Higher humidity will accompany the heat surge, further setting the stage for severe weather to erupt as a cold front dives into the northern Plains.

“Severe thunderstorms will initially fire in the western Dakotas late in the afternoon and evening on Tuesday,” AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologist Richard Schraeger said.

The violent thunderstorms are also forecast to ignite southward into central Nebraska. Locally stronger thunderstorms will erupt even farther south in western Kansas.

“The severe thunderstorms may then continue eastward overnight into Minnesota and Iowa,” Schraeger said.

Cities at risk from late Tuesday into Tuesday night include Bismarck and Fargo, North Dakota; Pierre, Aberdeen, Rapid City and Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and North Platte and Omaha, Nebraska.

The violent thunderstorms should reach Omaha after Game 2 of baseball's College World Series is completed.

The strongest thunderstorms will be capable of producing damaging winds and flooding, blinding downpours. There can also be some hail and an isolated tornado or two as the thunderstorms first ignite.

Motorists planning to travel on stretches of interstates 29, 35, 80, 90 and 94 may face dangerous conditions for a time, including reduced visibility and a heightened risk of hydroplaning.

As the surge of steamy air pours into the western Great Lakes on Wednesday, strong, gusty thunderstorms are likely to follow suite.

“The severe thunderstorms may weaken during the mid-morning hours of Wednesday but will still pack a punch as they push across eastern Wisconsin and portions of northern Michigan by the afternoon,” he said.

Although the storms are likely to lose a bit of fuel as they move across these regions, the potential still exists for winds to become strong enough to cause sporadic power outages and minor tree and property damage.

Severe thunderstorms will again re-fire southwestward across southern Iowa, northern Missouri and eastern Nebraska on Wednesday afternoon.

Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Des Moines, Iowa, are among the communities facing strong to severe thunderstorms at midweek. The College World Series in Omaha could once again be impacted if a Game 3 is necessary.

The intensity of the thunderstorms as they reach Traverse City, Michigan, will depend on the influence of the cooler waters of Lake Michigan.

The severe weather may approach Chicago and Kansas City, Missouri, by the end of Wednesday.

Gusty and drenching thunderstorms may shift to the eastern Great Lakes on Thursday as the central Plains could be bracing for yet another round of severe weather and flooding downpours. The latter is likely to become a reoccurring theme for the north-central U.S. into early July, according to AccuWeather Long-Range Meteorologist Max Vido.

"At the end of June into the beginning of July, the pattern will favor the development of strong thunderstorm complexes in the Midwest," Vido said.

"Flooding and damage to crop areas could occur in places that see recurrent thunderstorm tracks."

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