A Few Bigger Storms This Week

In the Midwest, a system moved through over the weekend with widespread showers and thunderstorms and areas of moderate to heavy rain. That will help with the drought situation. So will a system following a similar path for Tuesday and Wednesday. Again, widespread precipitation is in the forecast. Behind that, a clipper will move through on Thursday and Friday and another will cross the region over the weekend. Both will have a mix of rain and snow, but the snow could be heavy for those across the north.

In the Northern Plains, areas of showers went through over the weekend. Some moderate snow fell in South Dakota but quickly melted. Several waves and impulses will move through the region this week, producing areas of showers. Temperatures will be cold enough for mostly snow as they move through. A couple of clippers will move through on Thursday and Saturday and may produce some heavier snow in some areas. The region will take the precipitation as it has become drier recently.

In the Central and Southern Plains, scattered showers and thunderstorms developed on Friday and Saturday across the eastern half of the region, which included some severe weather. Heavy snow fell around Denver, but that has since melted. Another system will move through with scattered showers in similar areas on Tuesday into Wednesday, but without the heavy snow. Clippers moving by to the north may bring some isolated showers to Nebraska, but the region should go drier after Wednesday. Areas in the southwest missed last week’s heavy precipitation and will miss this week’s as well. Drought will continue to grow there while it is being reduced in the southeast.

In the Delta, a system brought widespread showers and thunderstorms over the weekend, which continues with another round on Monday. Another system moving through on Wednesday should bring some heavier showers and thunderstorms and another chance at severe weather as well. All of the rain that has fallen and will fall this week should lead to large reductions in drought, but deficits are larger than the rainfall amounts and will take more precipitation to eliminate. After Wednesday, the weather pattern will favor clippers, which may bring some isolated showers along cold fronts, but are more likely to be dry later this week through next week.

In the Southeast, scattered showers and thunderstorms moved through over the weekend. Another round of showers and thunderstorms will occur on Monday as the front to the weekend system remains in the area. Another system will move through with scattered showers for Wednesday and Thursday and some moderate to heavy rain will be possible again. The recent and forecast rainfall should help to ease the drought in some areas, but deficits are much too large to overcome. The weather pattern will go quieter with precipitation even though a couple of fronts will move through the region later this week and weekend.

In the Western U.S., some isolated showers moved across the far north this weekend, but most areas stayed dry. A cutoff low in the Southwest will bring some isolated showers for Monday and Tuesday before exiting into the Plains. Systems will scrape by northern areas with some isolated showers throughout the week. Otherwise, it will be hot and dry going into next week, a combination that should result in expanding drought conditions.

John Baranick can be reached at john.baranick@dtn.com