Deadly flooding strikes the Southwest
Before we look ahead to the severe weather expected across parts of the country, I'd like to take a minute to recap the deadly flooding in the southwestern United States.
In our last blog post, we talked about a dangerous flood threat materializing across portions of the Southwest. Unfortunately, that threat did materialize, as heavy rainfall produced significant flash flooding across much of the region, with at least two people losing their lives.
Areas that are normally dry ended up flooded with water in a matter of minutes. We must all remember to take the weather seriously, as you may head out for a hike expecting a nice day, only for conditions to change rapidly and end in tragedy.
Tropical Storm Edouard makes landfall in Texas
While the Southwest was dealing with dangerous flooding, Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall along the Texas coast today.
Edouard brought damaging winds, flooding rainfall, and storm surge to portions of the Texas coast as it moved inland. A corridor between Beaumont and Port Arthur received 4 to 8 inches of rain over the past few hours, with areas along the northern side of the corridor still seeing rain. While the storm is not expected to remain a tropical system for long, heavy rain and gusty winds may continue as it moves inland.
The storm is expected to die out over the next few days, but will still pose a risk of flooding in Texas. The rain, however, will offer some temporary relief from the heat across eastern Texas. The same cannot be said for much of the central and eastern United States, where the heat continues to hang on.
Heat hangs around the central U.S.
The heat dome that has been dominating the central U.S. is still holding on, keeping temperatures well above average across a large portion of the region. For many areas, there still isn't much sign of meaningful relief in the immediate future.
However, a brief cooldown is still expected for the East Coast late this weekend into early next week. Cooler air should push into the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, bringing temperatures closer to typical early-September levels, or perhaps slightly cooler than average.
An active stretch of severe weather ahead
The severe weather threat is also becoming more active as we move through the week, with several rounds of thunderstorms possible across different parts of the country.
Wednesday looks to bring the most widespread threat initially, with a Slight Risk extending from the eastern Great Lakes into the Mid-Atlantic. Damaging winds will be the main concern, although large hail and a few tornadoes are also possible. Another, more isolated threat will develop across the Northern Rockies and northern High Plains, where scattered storms could produce damaging winds and large hail.
Thursday could bring another round of severe storms from the Ohio Valley into the Mid-Atlantic, while more isolated storms may develop across the Red River Valley and Upper Midwest. The exact placement of the strongest storms will depend heavily on how Wednesday's storms affect the atmosphere.
Looking farther ahead, the severe threat may continue into Friday and Saturday, particularly across the Mid-Atlantic and potentially into the Carolina Piedmont. Additional isolated storms could also develop from the northern and central High Plains toward the Upper Mississippi Valley, although confidence is considerably lower this far out.
Overall, it looks like an active stretch of weather is setting up across parts of the country, with multiple opportunities for thunderstorms from Wednesday through the weekend.