Stormy Beginning To The Week

5/21/2012 forecast No Comments

Most of the eastern United States can expect a stormy start to the week as summertime-type thunderstorms are expected both Monday and Tuesday. The Storm Prediction Center is forecasting a slight risk of severe thunderstorms both today and tomorrow, with the main threats being hail and wind (with possibly a tornado or two in the Texas Panhandle and New Mexico). The areas in green on the map are the areas expecting general non-severe thunderstorms.

Monday's severe weather outlook.

Tomorrow we can expect more of the same  -- general pop-up thunderstorms, with some severe weather expected in the Dakotas and the southeast. The threat in the Dakotas will come in the form of damaging winds and "very large hail," and the threat in the southeast will come in the form of sporadic damaging wind/large hail reports.

Tuesday's severe weather outlook.

In the rainfall department, parts of the southeast and Mid-Atlantic are expecting about an inch of rain over the next two days, mainly coming from thunderstorms that pop up and rain out over small areas. As always, higher precipitation totals will occur in the heavier thunderstorms that stall out. Rainfall over the northern half of the US is also expected to come mainly in the form of thunderstorm activity, and the rain over Washington and Oregon can be attributed to a low pressure system coming ashore.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Alberto is still hanging on off the southeastern coast as a minimal tropical storm. It has 40 MPH winds and is moving off to the east, with an expected race towards the northeast expected to begin tonight. The system shouldn't last much longer than Wednesday, if that. The storm will not post a threat to land.

Meanwhile, the Pacific Hurricane Season (which started back on May 15) is ramping up, with a new tropical depression forming off the coast of Mexico. The NHC expects the system to become the second named storm of the year -- Bud -- and to steadily strengthen into a formidable hurricane as it takes aim at the southwestern Mexican coast. Given the population of the region and the amount of tourists in the area on summer vacation, this is definitely worth watching.

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