Memorial Day has become known as the unofficial start and Mother Nature will act that way with severe storms and heat for many across the U.S.
The risk of severe weather is expected to continue through the Memorial Day weekend as threats of large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes will impact millions from Texas into the Northeast.
Memorial Day has become known as the unofficial start of summer in the U.S. because it is the closest federal holiday to June 1, when meteorological summer begins.
Fortunately for many, morning and afternoon events Saturday will go on uninterrupted as the FOX Forecast Center is honing in on the second half of the day for thunderstorms to start popping over Texas, Oklahoma and the Plains.
“We’ll see a storm system eject off into the Plains,” said FOX Weather meteorologist Jane Minar. “Indications are we do have a decent cap into the early afternoon, but as we get going into the evening hours, storms start to erupt. By about 4 or 5 p.m., they push their way across Kansas and then, as we get into the overnight hours set up across Kansas City.”
Communities such as Oklahoma City and Wichita, Kansas, are at Level 3 out of 5 on the Storm Prediction Center’s thunderstorm severity scale.
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For the estimated 44 million people traveling for the holiday, impacts are expected to be minimal Saturday.
The chance of thunderstorms will generally exist between Interstate 20 in the south and Interstate 80 to the north.
The biggest airport that could see impacts is Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, but the FOX Forecast Center expects impacts to occur late in the evening after most flights have either arrived or departed for their destinations.
INDY 500 FORECAST: SEVERE WEATHER THREATENS ICONIC RACE SUNDAY
Sunday forecast
On Sunday, thunderstorms are expected to move northeast and impact the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio valleys.
Unlike Saturday, when development chances were prime during the evening, Sunday will feature showers and thunderstorms throughout the day that could impact events.
The SPC has highlighted communities such as Nashville in Tennessee and Louisville, Kentucky, for being at the greatest risk but warns thunderstorms could be prevalent in many cities from St. Louis, Missouri, and Little Rock, Arkansas, to Chicago and Columbus, Ohio.
Fortunately for travelers, many are already at their destinations by Sunday. However, those who will be traveling on interstates 40, 70, 55 and 65 will want to pay close attention to the forecast.
Included in the threat zone is the Indy 500, where organizers are already preparing for the potential of rain.
“This storm system is going to bring its slow movement,” Minar said. “A cold front is going to trigger up those storms as we get into the afternoon, with dew points well into the 70s and daytime heating, and we have a threat for some pretty serious storms, damaging winds, an isolated tornado and flooding concerns.”
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND FORECAST INCLUDES STORMS, HEAT AND RIP CURRENTS
Monday Memorial Day
On the holiday itself, there is expected to be a large spread of showers and thunderstorms across much of the eastern third of the nation, but chances for a severe weather outbreak are much decreased than during the previous two days.
Despite the apparent lack of severity, any thunderstorm is capable of producing deadly lightning and torrential rainfall, which will interrupt events in major cities such as Washington, D.C., New York City and along the Interstate 95 corridor.
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Communities in the South, where it doesn’t rain, will miss out on the cooling effects of the precipitation, with highs ranging from the low to mid-90s for many along the Interstate 10 corridor.
Due to the complex layout of the storm system, rain chances are expected to continue into Tuesday along the Eastern Seaboard.