Dangerous, Record-Breaking Heat to Continue in the Central and Eastern U.S.; Severe Thunderstorms in the Upper Midwest; Critical Fire Weather in the Four Corners

Dangerous, record-breaking heat will continue across most of the central and eastern U.S this week. Heat indices will exceed 100 degrees. Severe storms will be possible from the northern Plains into the Midwest and Great Lakes regions, as well as across the southern Appalachians Thursday, with the primary threat large to very large hail. Critical fire weather to continue in the Four Corners Region 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.