This weekend, heavy rain and thunderstorms are likely to pour over the Plains and Upper Midwest. Moreover, these showers are expected to cause flooding in much of the areas.
These showers can be attributed to the huge amount of moisture that is reaching the Plains from the Gulf of Mexico.
Areas that will be most affected as of flooding and heavy downpours are from the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles to the western part of the Dakotas and eastern portions of Colorado and Wyoming throughout Friday.
As the weekend progresses, the threat of heavy showers and locally severe storms will increase farther to the east.
During Saturday, the storm threat will stretch from most parts of north-central and western Texas to Minnesota and on Sunday, the downpours with isolated severe storms will expand from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Wisconsin to central and eastern Texas.
From around Kansas City in Missouri, through Del Rio in Texas, 4-8 inches of rain are expected over some areas during this weekend. Farther north to the Canada border, about 2-4 inches of rain can fall at the local level.
Some areas in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin have observed more than 6 inches of rain during this mid-week. These rains have pushed some streams and rivers out of their banks.
In addition to the high flooding risk, some of the severe thunderstorms may have the potential for localized damaging wind gusts, hail and isolated tornadoes during this weekend.
A cold front is likely to be associated with these heavy downpours and severe thunderstorms. In the wake of this, temperatures will be cut by 15 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit over areas of the Plains. Highs in the 70s and 80s will be replaced with highs in the 50s and 60s in most areas. During the next week, the front will move more towards east across the northern Plains and Upper Midwest.
This might end the threat of flooding in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, but it will continue or increase the risk farther south.
Weatherman also expects a storm to form along the front and end into further tropical moisture the next week.
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