Severe Thunderstorms and Heavy Rain in the Mississippi Valley; Fire Weather Concerns in the Southern High Plains

Severe thunderstorms and the threat for excessive rainfall will move into the mid-Mississippi and lower Ohio Valleys today. There is potential for a few strong tornadoes, damaging wind gusts, large hail, and scattered flash flooding. Low humidity and windy conditions will continue to produce elevated to critical fire weather conditions across the southern High Plains into midweek. Read More >

Storm Summary

A deeply occluded surface storm, which tracked nearly due north from the Ohio River Valley on Sunday December 29, then moved into Michigan on the 30th during the morning hours. As the deep surface low tracked north toward northern Lake Michigan it, in combination with an equally deep upper level system brought in enough cold air to turn the rain that was falling to lake enhanced snow showers by late afternoon. Snow was aided considerably by moisture enhancement from Lake Michigan. Since the storm was fairly deep, 989 mb at 2 pm on the 30th, in combination with the 1033 mb high over Colorado, caused gusty southwest winds that gusted to near 40 mph at times Monday evening into Tuesday morning. The combination of snow and blowing snow caused hazardous travel conditions to develop from the late evening hours of the 30th into the 31st.