Severe weather to ramp back up across central US late this week
Residents of the central United States will face a far-reaching severe weather event set to unfold late in the week and into the weekend.
Severe weather across the nation's midsection early this week will be confined to localized clusters affecting only a fraction of the region. By Friday and into this weekend, multiple states will be at risk.
Localized threats into Tuesday
While much-needed drier weather sweeps across flood-ravaged eastern Texas and the lower Mississippi Valley, a zone of thunderstorms with damaging winds and hail can target northern Missouri and much of Iowa on Tuesday.
Another area of thunderstorms can produce locally heavy downpours and gusty winds across southern parts of Texas. However, the rain is not anticipated to be heavy enough to trigger new flash flooding problems.
While isolated, heavier storms can erupt across South Texas again on Wednesday, another cluster of gusty storms may impact parts of the Tennessee River Valley and south-central United States. Again, rain from these storms should not be heavy enough to cause new flooding issues.
Potential severe weather outbreak to unfold by this weekend
There is growing concern among AccuWeather meteorologists for an outbreak of severe weather to target multiple states in the central U.S. from Friday into the weekend.
A potent storm that will first bring unusually late-season rainfall to California later this week will spark the severe weather across the Plains as it clashes with surging warmth and humidity.
"By Friday, the pattern will become increasingly conducive for thunderstorm activity across western parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Max Vido.
The violent thunderstorms may hold off until the late-afternoon hours of Friday and could ignite as far north as South Dakota and westward to eastern Colorado.
"The threat for severe weather is then expected to shift east across the central and southern Plains on Saturday," Vido stated. "This could put the larger metropolitan areas, such as Dallas and Oklahoma City, at risk for damaging thunderstorms."
Residents across the central U.S. are being warned that all facets of severe weather, from damaging winds to large hail, flooding downpours and tornadoes, can be anticipated later Friday into Saturday.
Looking ahead to Sunday, Vido is concerned that the severe weather threat will shift to more of Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri.
"More precise details on specific hazards and exact locations of where the worst of the severe weather may occur will become clearer in the coming days, so anyone in the central U.S. will want to revisit their forecasts through the week," according to Vido.
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A tornado touched down north of Tahoka, Texas on May 5, 2019. The tornado developed into an EF2 as it made its way southeast of the city. (Twitter / @1WXRoderick)
"Travel delays and disruptions will be possible throughout the central U.S. due to the high wind and flash flooding threats posed by the storms," Vido said.
"Those with outdoor activities planned will need to stay vigilant of rapidly changing weather conditions and have alternative plans in place."
River levels will also be closely monitored during the impending severe weather outbreak. Where downpours repeat over the same locations, there can be further rises or a delay in the recession of area rivers or those downstream.
North of the severe weather, a prolonged chilly rain event may unfold across the northern Plains Friday through the weekend.
