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Heavy Rainfall Along the Central Gulf Coast; Thunderstorms from the Plains to the Central Appalachians; Heat Across the East

A system in the Gulf could produce heavy rainfall and flash flooding for portions of the north-central Gulf Coast into Saturday. Widespread showers and thunderstorms are likely this afternoon into Friday from Central Plains into the mid-Mississippi Valley, Ohio Valley and Central Appalachians. Dangerous heat is expected from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Mid-Atlantic today. Read More >

Overview

Severe thunderstorms occurred during the late afternoon and evening hours as a strong cold front moved into the area. Surface low pressure moved across central Illinois during the late afternoon hours, with our region well into the systems warm sector. High temperatures soared into the mid 80s in many locations, which helped to prime the atmosphere for severe thunderstorm development. Discrete storms formed over southeast Missouri and far southwest Illinois initially around 5 PM and quickly became severe. These storms continued to push east/southeastward into the evening hours. As the cold front approached from the northwest, a line of storms moved into the I-64 corridor but seemed to lose their intensity as they progressed across the Wabash Valley and Evansville Tri-State region. While a few wind damage reports were received, the main impact from these storms was large hail ranging from quarter sized to greater than golf balls. The largest hailstones observed were 2.25" in diameter in Sikeston, MO.
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