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After severe weather hit more than a dozen states in the past week, some of the same areas are threatened with renewed thunderstorms in the first week of April.
A dip in the jet stream in the middle of the country beginning late this weekend is expected to sweep a storm from the northwest states to the southern plains early in the week.
As this storm dives south over the Plains on Sunday, it’s expected to trigger some stronger thunderstorms.
“Thunderstorms firing across the Red River late Sunday are likely to continue throughout the night, bringing the risk of hail and damaging winds,” said AccuWeather Meteorologist Andrew Kienzle.
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While the strongest storms are expected to remain east of Texas cities like Amarillo and Lubbock, communities west of Abilene to the southwestern suburbs of Oklahoma City will be in the crosshairs for severe weather.
The further east the storm advances, the greater the area of possible severe weather.
“Severe thunderstorms are expected to break out in east Texas on Monday and extend into the Mississippi River Valley, including in larger metropolitan areas such as Dallas and San Antonio, all of which could be at risk,” Kienzle said.
Once again, thunderstorms can produce hail and damaging wind gusts with a possible AccuWeather Local StormMax&Trade of 75 mph. In addition, torrential downpours and isolated tornadoes will also be a cause for concern.
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Drivers on sections of Interstates 10, 20, and 45 should remain vigilant as gusty winds and heavy rainfall can cause poor visibility and puddles on the roads. Both could result in slower journeys, especially during afternoon and evening commutes.
The severe weather threat doesn’t end in the Mississippi Valley, as AccuWeather forecasters remain concerned about severe weather in the rest of the Southeast as midweek approaches.
Two separate storms are forecast to hit an area from central Tennessee south through the central Gulf Coast and east to the beaches of South Carolina by Wednesday. The first is the same storm expected to bring severe weather further west. The second storm will sweep through the Plains and Midwest Tuesday through Wednesday, bringing another round of thunderstorms to the region.
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“These duo storms could endanger the same locations with severe thunderstorms two days in a row,” Kienzle warned.
Kienzle went on to explain that cities from New Orleans and Tallahassee, Fla., north to Charleston, South Carolina should all be on the lookout for severe thunderstorms in the middle of the week.
Along with the threat of severe weather comes concerns about flooding in this region, particularly when the same areas are hit by a severe thunderstorm more than once in a 48-hour period.
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At the end of March, parts of the South remained in a drought, including cities such as Augusta and Albany in Georgia, as well as Jackson, Mississippi, New Orleans and Dallas. While rain would likely be beneficial to overall drought conditions, thunderstorms often bring too much rain too quickly, causing the water to pool in low-lying areas instead of being absorbed by the ground.
“It’s possible the Southeast could see precipitation rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour during the strongest thunderstorms,” Paul Pastelok, AccuWeather’s senior long-range expert, said earlier this week.
Residents should be prepared for both the severe weather and the threat of flooding by having a plan in place before the storm hits and having a reliable way to get clocks and alerts like the AccuWeather app.
Many of the same areas hitherto hit by severe weather this spring will face renewed threats from more damaging thunderstorms and tornadoes.
Jacksboro, Texas, a community approximately 60 miles northwest of Fort Worth, is one of many areas affected by the active well. City residents are still cleaning up from an EF3 tornado that struck the area on Monday, March 21. Jacksboro’s elementary and high schools were both directly hit by the Twister’s estimated 140-mph winds. Those in the New Orleans area could also be at risk of severe weather again after an EF3 tornado severely damaged parts of the city that were also struck by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
On Wednesday, March 30, more than two dozen interim tornadoes were generated from near the Texas-Louisiana border to the western Florida Panhandle. For the time being, this active day has pushed the number of tornadoes in March 2022 past 200, which, if confirmed, would break the March 2017 tornado record of 192. The average number of tornadoes in the United States in March is 75, spread across 21 states, according to the National Weather Service‘s Storm Prediction Center.
In early March, AccuWeather long-range meteorologists predicted that 2022 would be filled with more tornadoes than in recent years.
