Rounds of storms to target Plains with flooding, damaging winds
Up close video of the tornado that hit in Scandia, Minnesota on Monday night, July 29. This video shows just how close it came as it crossed a field and road, with power flashes and aftermath damage.
Residents across the Plains should brace for multiple rounds of showers and drenching thunderstorms into the weekend.
A nearly stationary weather pattern will set up across the region that will promote the same areas getting hit repeatedly by these thunderstorm complexes.
Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will be drawn northward into the central Plains on the western side of a high pressure system anchored over the Upper Midwest.
At the same time, a frontal boundary separating cooler and more pleasant air across the Midwest from hot and steamy air in the southern Plains will struggle to move much.
It is where the moisture and this frontal boundary collide that flash flooding will remain major concern.
The first of these heavy thunderstorm complexes fired up Wednesday night and persisted through Thursday morning.
Storms on Friday erupted from eastern South Dakota to northeastern Oklahoma.
As the high pressure over the Upper Midwest exerts its influence farther south and west into Saturday, the area of heaviest rain will focus over the eastern portions of Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.
"Rainfall totals will average between 2 and 4 inches in this area,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Edwards said.
Up to a foot of rain can fall in the pattern in some communities. During Wednesday night, more than 10 inches of rain fell on Lone Star, Kansas.
Nearly 7 inches of rain fell on Ottawa, Kansas, Thursday morning, all but submerging a portion of the city. A video surfaced of people wading through knee-high water at a local smokehouse to salvage what they could from a barbecue smoker.
Residents in this corridor should prepare now for the possibility of flash flooding, as it will only take a couple of inches of rain in a short amount of time to trigger these issues.
“Widespread flooding is possible where the heaviest rainfall occurs and causes rapid rises on area creeks, streams and small rivers,” according to Edwards.
Much of the south-central Plains and Mississippi Valley was ravaged by months of record-setting flooding this spring and early summer, so additional bouts of heavy rainfall are the last thing that the region needs.
The time to prepare is now. Have a plan of action ready to move to higher ground in the event that flooding threatens your home, property and family members. In addition, motorists that encounter flooded roadways should seek alternate routes as it only takes 1-2 feet of moving water to sweep away most vehicles.
“Turn around, don’t drown,” Edwards warned.
By the second half of the weekend, the weather pattern should become more progressive and allow drier air to sweep back into the central Plains.
Download the free AccuWeather app to receive severe weather watches and warnings for your area as soon as they are issued. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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