Thunderstorms across the central US to help with drought relief
AccuWeather forecasters say that states positioned along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains will continue to face an influx of moisture through the remainder of this weekend. Repeat downpours and afternoon thunderstorms are dampening locations from Idaho and Montana to western Texas.
Rounds of showers and storms have been ongoing for many days now, but were especially intense on Saturday. From the High Plains to the Southeast, warm and humid air helped these storms rapidly develop, bringing heavy rain, strong wind gusts and hail to some areas. Texas saw a large chunk of this activity, with storms impacting the High Plains, Rio Grande Valley and central regions of the state around the same time. Later at night, storms pressed eastward, blasting through College Station, Texas, with wind gusts reaching 85 mph.
Storms fired up once again on Sunday and Monday during the afternoon and evening hours, though were generally less widespread than the days prior. From Montana to South Texas, isolated reports of damaging wind gusts were received, including an especially notable gust to 82 mph near Harlingen, Texas, located in the Rio Grande Valley, on Monday. South Texas also saw some large hail the following day, with golf ball sized hailstones being reported near Brownsville, Texas.
Each afternoon and evening heading through this week, showers and storms will continue to nudge into the Colorado Rockies and over portions of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and central Utah. However, some thundershowers can kick up prior to midday across western Nebraska, eastern Colorado and western South Dakota as moisture is steered northward from the Gulf of Mexico.
It is not out of the question for some storms to produce a flash flood risk across some Central states, especially if they move through areas where heavy rain has already fallen recently. Localized pockets of convection can briefly ramp up into severe thunderstorms during the afternoon, with downpours and wind being the primary risks. However, small hail can occur in the right environment, and forecasters emphasize that storms that ramp up to severe levels will be fairly isolated.
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"A slight reduction in heat and humidity will lead to less energy available in the atmosphere, keeping any severe chances isolated across the Plains," explained AccuWeather Meteorologist Andrew Johnson-Levine.
Conditions over parts of the central U.S. have been particularly dry lately. The lack of substantial rainfall has marked this region with levels of severe to exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor's latest update on Thursday, June 1.
Forecasters say that this ongoing moisture expansion pattern across the region can prove helpful for the drought levels.
"Most of Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma are still experiencing drought conditions, despite recent rain. While any heavy storms can lead to flooding, they may also prove beneficial in a region that's still in dire need of rain," said Johnson-Levine.
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Throughout meteorological spring, cities such as Wichita, Kansas, observed lower-than-typical rainfall values. From March 1 to May 31, the airport only observed 3.86 inches of rain, compared to the historical average of 10.57 inches of rain typical for spring. At only 37% of its typical rainfall in the months leading up to summer, dry conditions have put a damper on regional agriculture around the city and the planting of summertime crops.
As this week kicks off, the jet stream will continue to bulge northward into south-central Canada, and moisture will once again be ushered northward from the Gulf waters. Daily thunderstorms will persist across portions of the Central states as heat builds throughout the northern Plains.
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