Severe storms threaten Plains again through weekend as flood threat increases in Southeast

Severe storms threaten Plains again through weekend as flood threat increases in Southeast

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Multiple systems are posing the threat of severe weather and flash flooding to the central and southern Plains through this weekend.

Multiple systems are threatening severe weather and flash flooding in the central and southern Plains through this weekend.

Severe storms are expected to lash eastern Colorado, including the areas just east of Denver, early Saturday afternoon. They could produce golf-ball-sized hail, frequent lightning, wind gusts over 60 mph and perhaps brief tornadoes.

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Three-hour radar loop. Warning boxes are color coded as: Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in yellow, Tornado Warnings in red, Tornado Warnings with a confirmed tornado in purple, Flash Flood Warnings in green and Flash Flood Emergencies in pink.
(FOX Weather)

 

“It is after lunchtime that we’re expecting that blossoming of showers and thunderstorms,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Michael Estime said. “Then around dinner time tonight … things really get ripping and rolling, rushing toward the east. As it does so, it’s going to crisscross the state of Kansas.”

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NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center has issued a Level 2 out of 5 severe storm threat stretching across mostly rural areas from parts of southern South Dakota all the way into the Mexico border in West Texas. 

A look at the severe storm threat in the Central Plains for Saturday, June 1, 2024.
(FOX Weather)

 

A look at the severe storm threat in the South for Saturday, June 1, 2024.
(FOX Weather)

 

Some of the larger cities included in the Level 2 are in the Southern Plains, such as Midland and Odessa in Texas, and Roswell, Clovis, and Hobbs in New Mexico.

Severe weather threat shifts to the northern Sunday

Strong to severe thunderstorms will also be possible from the northern and central Plains into the Upper Midwest on Sunday.

A look at the severe storm threat in the southern Plains for Sunday, June 2, 2024.
(FOX Weather)

 

Here, damaging wind gusts of 60 mph or more and large hail are the primary threats, especially over central Nebraska. The overall tornado risk is quite low, but a slight risk of an isolated tornado remains. 

Repeat rounds of flash flooding possible

The FOX Forecast Center is also tracking strong storms possible across the Southeast, with the potential to generate torrential rain. 

Residents of Jackson, Mississippi, Birmingham, Alabama, and Nashville, Tennessee, are on alert on Saturday. 

Slow moving showers and thunderstorms will be capable of training over the same area, with extreme rainfall rates leading to flash flooding, leading to some concerns for locally significant impacts, according to NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center. 

A Level 3 out of 4 “moderate risk” of excessive rainfall is expected over parts of far southern Alabama and the southern and western Florida Panhandle.

Rain rates could exceed 2 inches per hour, and up to 5 inches of rain may drench multiple states. There is also a possibility of a few damaging wind gusts. 

A look at the flash flood threat in the central and southern U.S. through Sunday, June 2, 2024
(FOX Weather)

 

The storms are expected to become more scattered Sunday.