Severe weather to kick off June in central US
AccuWeather forecasters say thunderstorms will continue to develop across parts of the central United States into Wednesday evening, including the risk of damaging severe weather and flooding downpours.
Severe weather has been a daily occurrence across the central U.S. since Saturday when winds gusted to 75 mph near Gillette, Wyoming, and Buffalo, South Dakota.
The stormy weather made an appearance yet again Sunday evening and overnight, with storms rattling portions of the central and northern Plains. The intense storms continued into Monday, centered in Minnesota but also extending as far south as Kansas. Early Monday evening, a tornado was seen on the ground in Pipestone, Minnesota, while a report of tornado damage was reported around the same time in Forada, Minnesota.
On Tuesday, another tornado was confirmed, this time in Dodson, Texas, located on the Texas-Oklahoma border, with no significant damage reported as of Tuesday evening. Torrential downpours flooded part of the Wichita, Kansas, metro area Tuesday night. Nearly 4 inches of rain poured down from 11 p.m. Tuesday to 2 a.m. Wednesday, local time.
The threat of intense storms will shift slowly to the south and east through Wednesday night, but will continue to impact a broad swath of the Heartland.
 |
Much like previous days, the most intense storms may be capable of producing hail the size of golf balls -- a size large enough to crack windows and damage property. Strong winds and perhaps a few tornadoes will also be possible.
Some of the storms may overlap areas that are hit on Tuesday.
While the most intense storms into Wednesday night could be isolated, places such as Amarillo, Lubbock and Midland, Texas may want to reconsider outdoor plans as rounds of rain and storms move through. The Dallas Fort Worth International Airport ordered a ground stop of some arriving flights due to the storm threat as of Wednesday afternoon, as a storm with over 40 mph wind gusts was seen hovering over the airport.
Threats such as tornadoes and large hail may often appear most concerning. However, flooding may be the most substantial threat from Oklahoma to Missouri this week.
 |
Mother Nature has shown in the past that such a large outbreak of severe storms is not needed to pose a major risk to lives and property. Rainfall totals can quickly rise over the span of several hours as storms repeatedly move through, a process that is known as "training."
As storms threaten to impact the same regions repeatedly, rainfall totals can vary greatly over a small geographical area. As a large volume of water flows into nearby rivers and streams, this can lead to flooding in locations that may have received much less rainfall.
"Many of these areas received above-normal rainfall for the month of May. It will take less rain than normal to lead to flash and river flooding," Hyde explained.
Most of the area threatened by flooding had above-normal rainfall throughout May. Oklahoma City logged 138% of its normal May rainfall, while Wichita, Kansas, reached 250% of normal.
Forecasters believe that the stormy pattern will eventually break Thursday with several days of dry weather possible heading into the coming weekend.
Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts™ are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.
