Tens of millions of Americans from the Midwest to the Southeast are going to have another tense week as concerns grow that the US could be rocked by another multiday severe weather outbreak.
March typically marks the beginning of the active spring severe weather season, and this renewed risk comes after a deadly severe weather outbreak swept across the nation last week.
This week, forecasters will monitor the potential for strong to severe thunderstorms as we approach the middle of the week and again as we get ready to welcome the weekend.
Questions remain regarding midweek severe weather threat
The FOX Forecast Center said the severe weather potential might increase on Wednesday across the Ark-La-Tex region as an upper-level low-pressure system moves eastward from the Southwest into the southern Plains.
However, there is still some uncertainty regarding the system’s strength and positioning. One computer forecast model shows a more intense system with strong upper-level winds, which could enhance storm development.
On the other hand, another model shows a weaker system, which would limit storm coverage.
Moisture from the Gulf is expected to move into portions of Texas and the Ark-La-Tex region, but the variability in surface features is making it difficult to pinpoint the chances of severe weather.
Friday could be start of multiday severe weather threat
Forecasters say that a larger severe weather threat looms for Friday and Saturday as a strong upper-level disturbance is expected to move from the Plains to the eastern US.
“This is an update as of this morning,” FOX Weather meteorologist Kendall Smith said. “The Storm Prediction Center has gone ahead and upped the ante even more. So, now it’s a level 3 out of 5 risk for Friday, as well as Saturday, for portions of the Southeast as well as the mid-South.”
A deepening surface low will pull in moisture from the Gulf and send it north into the Mississippi Valley on Friday, and then into the Southeast by Saturday.
“Severe storms with a risk of tornadoes, swaths of damaging winds and hail are expected Friday from the Ark-La-Tex into the middle and lower Mississippi Valley,” NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) said. “The severe risk will shift east toward the Southeast on Saturday.”
The SPC noted the northern and eastern extent of the severe weather threat remain uncertain, and changes to the forecast are likely as the week continues.
Forecasters are urging those in the threat area to “prepare now” for the potential of severe weather and to monitor the forecast.
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