Central United States Under Threat of Thunderstorms, Fires and Flooding

July 11, 2005 — Residents of the High Plains and central United States can look for a wide variety of weather conditions ranging from thunderstorms to wildland fires to flash flooding today and Tuesday, according to NOAA National Weather Service forecasts.

As the remnants of Hurricane Dennis bring heavy rain to eastern Missouri, eastern Kentucky, southern Indiana and southern Illinois, a low-pressure system stretching from Canada to Mexico is expected to bring rain storms and some severe weather to areas of the eastern Rocky Mountains and western South Dakota that were the center of wildfire activities over the weekend. Three fires continue to burn in Colorado and one in South Dakota.

"In the relatively short distance from the eastern Rockies to the Ohio River valley, we're going to see a wide range over weather over the next couple of days," said NOAA Weather Service acting deputy regional director Mike Looney in Kansas City. "It appears rainstorms should be of some help with the Mason Fire that was started by a lightning strike last week southwest of Pueblo, Colo. That fire kept growing over the weekend and has exceeded 8,000 acres burned in some rugged terrain that has hampered fire fighting efforts."

The Mason Fire caused the weekend evacuation of the town of Beulah. The Pueblo County Sheriff called for evacuation of about 1,200 area residents Sunday and a Type 1 fire incident management team was requested to battle the blaze.

Rain and higher humidity should also help with the Ricco Fire in the Black Hills National Forest, according to Looney. He noted that the NOAA Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., showed no critical fire weather conditions today or Tuesday in its daily fire weather forecasts.

Rainstorms are expected to bring some relief to the Pike San Isabel National Forest and Grasslands where the Mason Fire has been burning southwest of Pueblo since July 6. A lightning strike started the fire the evening of July 6 and it was reported July 7.

Much heavier rains are forecast for eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, eastern Kentucky and eastern Tennessee as the remnants of Dennis bring the danger of flash flooding. National Weather Service forecasters are calling for heavy rain in those areas through Tuesday with showers and thunderstorms expected to continue into Friday.

“What's left of Dennis is still carrying a lot of moisture,” Looney said. "We're expecting flooding and flash flooding problems from northern Louisiana to central Illinois and Indiana. Included in that is an area of possible severe storms that could also bring high winds and hail."

Media contact:

Pat Slattery, NOAA’s National Weather Service Central Region, 816-891-7734, ext. 621

Related Web sites:

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov
NOAA National Weather Service: http://www.nws.noaa.gov
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center - Fire Weather Outlook
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/fire_wx