Storms keep pestering outdoor plans in southern US while raising flood risk
Thunderstorms brought heavy rain and flooding to Bradenton, Florida, on Aug. 14. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for much of central Florida, where some homes have been inundated by flooding.
The southern United States will remain the focal point for numerous and drenching shower and thunderstorm activity through the weekend.
Residents and vacationers may be struggling to find extended dry periods to head to the beach, play golf or go to an amusement park or sporting event.
Even worse than disrupting these and other outdoor plans, flash flooding can occur in the repeated downpours.
A press of dry air has shunted showers and thunderstorms to the Gulf coast and southern Atlantic Seaboard.
This will put locations from Tallahassee and Jacksonville, Florida to Savannah, Georgia; Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Wilmington and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in the zone of most frequent downpours.
"The main threats from the storms will be torrential downpours that can trigger street and highway flooding and significant travel slowdowns," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
Motorists are encouraged to slow down on the highways, including interstates 10 and 95, when it rains to lessen the risk of hydroplaning.
Flooded roadways should be avoided altogether.
"While the storms pose a risk from flooding, pockets of abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions exist across the Southeast," Sosnowski said. "As a result, the rain will be beneficial to these areas and any neighborhoods where lawns have turned brown."
While downpours riddle the coast, interior areas such as Nashville and Atlanta will be sunny and dry with a slight downturn in humidity levels into Saturday.
However, it will remain hot with high temperatures in the 90s F and AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures near 100 F.
People attending this weekend's NASCAR race in Bristol, Tennessee, nicknamed 'Thunder Valley,' will only hear the thundering roar of the cars, not from the sky, as dry weather will hold over the area for raceday. People heading to the track on Saturday ahead of the race on Saturday night should bring sun protection, wear light-colored clothing and drink plenty of water in the heat.
Temperatures will be more bearable for the Monster Energy series race on Saturday night, dropping into the middle 70s by the end of the race.
Unsettled weather is expected to creep northward into the Bristol area and remainder of the interior Southeast late in the weekend and early next week.
While the downpours in the short-term are not associated with a tropical feature, AccuWeather meteorologists are concerned that a tropical system may spring up in the western or central Gulf of Mexico later next week.
Download the free AccuWeather app to stay alert of flood advisories and track rainfall for your location minute-by-minute using MinuteCast®. 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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