The central United States will not catch a break from severe weather as potentially damaging thunderstorms threaten to erupt daily through at least midweek.
Violent thunderstorms closing out this weekend are expected to be followed by additional rounds as the week progresses and a storm system continues to roll out of the Rockies.
The corridor from southeastern South Dakota to eastern Colorado and the Texas Panhandle will first be at risk on Sunday afternoon and evening.
“Severe storms that occur will be capable of producing large hail and damaging wind gusts, as well as torrential downpours that will lead to flash flooding in spots,” AccuWeather Lead Storm Warning Meteorologist Eddie Walker.
An isolated tornado or two cannot be ruled out.
Some of the communities being threatened were struck by severe weather and flooding late on Saturday.
Large hail on Saturday shattered windows and windshields of vehicles in Nebraska. Similar incidents can occur to end the weekend and with the severe thunderstorms that follow this week.
Later on Sunday night into Monday morning, flash flooding will become the greater threat to lives and property. While pockets of heavy rain may spread over the central Plains, more numerous downpours capable of causing flooding are expected to spread over Oklahoma, Arkansas and to the western Tennessee Valley.
Residents and motorists should prepare for rapidly rising water, especially where recent downpours have left the ground unable to absorb much more rain.
The end to severe weather on the Plains will not come with the weekend.
“Severe thunderstorms are expected a bit farther north across the northern High Plains on Monday, again with damaging winds and large hail being the main impacts,” Walker said. “Some spots of flash flooding cannot be ruled out, though.”
These thunderstorms will erupt in the afternoon and carry over into the evening hours. Communities in and around Gillette, Wyoming; Rapid City and Pierre, South Dakota; Miles City, Montana; and Bismarck, North Dakota, will be threatened.
Similar to Sunday night, the severe thunderstorms will congeal into bands of heavy rain across the northern Plains later on Monday night.
Despite the damaging aspects of the thunderstorms, rainfall would be welcome across the north-central United States. The upper Missouri River Basin continues to suffer from an extreme to exceptional drought according to last Thursday’s report from the U.S. Drought Monitor.
The storm responsible for triggering Monday’s severe weather will continue to emerge eastward from the Rockies on Tuesday and Wednesday, trigger more severe thunderstorms as it clashes with the warm and humid air surging across the Plains.
“The trigger for these periods of thunderstorm activity will be a bit more robust, allowing for stronger lines of thunderstorms to develop and march east quickly into the evening and overnight hours each day,” Walker said.
While the exact areas facing severe weather these days will be determined by the speed of the storm coming out of the Rockies and any lingering cloud cover/rain from the previous day, latest indications point toward Tuesday's threat focusing on the central Plains in the vicinity of Nebraska.
The area at greatest risk for violent thunderstorms on Wednesday may extend from Missouri to Kansas. However, the Upper Midwest may still face flooding downpours this day.
Drier and more comfortable air is expected to press across the north-central U.S. in the wake of this storm but is likely not to keep steamy air suppressed for long. Humidity may quickly surge back to the north later in the week, fueling additional rounds of thunderstorms.
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