Millions targeted by thunderstorms, flash flooding as multiday severe event kicks off across Plains, Midwest
A stormy weather pattern is moving into the Central Plains and the Midwest, kicking off a multiday stretch of heavy rain and flash flood concerns for millions of people that will last through the weekend.
A stormy weather pattern is moving into the Central Plains and the Midwest, kicking off a multiday stretch of heavy rain and flash flood concerns for millions of people that will last through the weekend.
Daily afternoon thunderstorms are expected to develop across the central Plains and Upper Midwest beginning Thursday before shifting east through the weekend, threatening Chicago's Lollapalooza, one of the nation's largest outdoor music festivals, on Friday and Saturday.
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The intense heat dome that has been baking the middle of the country will shift back into the Southwest, opening the door for a storm system out of Canada to slam the Heartland.
These storms will tap into a high amount of moisture that is surging north along an old frontal boundary leftover from storms earlier in the week.
WILDFIRE SMOKE FROM THE NORTHWEST SWEEPS ACROSS THE US TO MID-ATLANTIC AND SOUTHEAST
The bull's-eye of Thursday's flood risk will be across parts of the Central Plains and Upper Midwest, which will shift east into the weekend, eventually reaching parts of the Southeast by Saturday.
NOAA's Weather Prediction Center (WPC) has issued a Level 2 out of 4 risk of flash flooding for parts of eastern South Dakota, eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, southwest Minnesota, eastern Kansas, and northern Missouri on Thursday.
It will be very humid, providing plenty of fuel for thunderstorms, with the potential for some storms to organize into larger complexes capable of producing torrential rain in a short period of time.
The most intense storms are expected across parts of central South Dakota and north-central Nebraska, where NOAA's Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has issued a Level 2 out of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms Thursday.
Areas that receive heavy rain on Thursday will be more vulnerable to flooding if another round of storms develops.
While there is still some uncertainty about exactly where the heaviest rain sets up, rainfall totals exceeding 3 inches are possible where storms repeatedly move over the same locations.
By Friday, the heavy rain threat shifts farther east into the Upper and Middle Mississippi Valley.
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The same disturbance will likely keep tracking southeast, teaming up with weekend rain across the region and giving areas in the Midwest and Plains a much-needed break from the extreme heat.
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