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Great Plains, New England & Mid-Atlantic Brace For Big Storms
July 6, 2020
UPDATE By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Fred Allen
The long holiday weekend will end eerily like the way it began across the Plains.
Fostering explosive big thunderstorm development by mid-to-late afternoon will be a cold front slicing into the northern Plains separating hot, sticky air ahead of it from cooler, much drier air behind it. Forming first in the Wyoming Front Range and southeastern Montana, storm development will spread quickly onto the Dakotas and northwestern Minnesota by late this afternoon or early this evening. In fact, repeated lines or clusters could track across many of these same locations until dissipating early Monday morning.
Sheridan, Wyo., and near Billings, Mont., Rapid City and Aberdeen, S.D., Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn., are all in the primary severe weather danger zone through tonight. Damaging wind gusts of 55 to 75 mph and a few instances of hail larger than baseball size are the primary risks, but a short-lived tornado is possible as well.
Severe Thunderstorm Watches stretch from far west-central Minnesota to northeastern Wyoming, including Aberdeen, Pierre and Rapid City, S.D., Bismarck, N.D., and Casper and Gillette, Wyo.
Other dangerous weather could spill from the Colorado Rocky Front Range into Colorado’s eastern Plains this afternoon and evening, subjecting cities like Denver and Pueblo to gusty winds and small hail. Even further south from eastern New Mexico into western Texas, a few robust thunderstorms will likely develop within a fast-moving disturbance aloft. Amarillo, Lubbock, Abilene and Midland, Texas, will need to keep an eye to the sky for threatening weather briefly this afternoon and evening.
Beyond the typical severe risks, thunderstorms repeatedly tracking across the same Plains locations from North Dakota to Texas will squeeze out 1 to locally 3 inches of rain through early Monday morning. This much rain in a short time could overwhelm storm drains and cause excess runoff, which could lead to low-lying, urban flooding and flash flooding. Remember, if you approach a roadway covered in water, it is best to “Turn Around, Don’t Drown.”
Meanwhile, a cold front cruising into New England will instigate a few punchy thunderstorms ahead of it this afternoon and evening. Boston, Worcester and Springfield, Mass., Providence, R.I., Manchester and Concord, N.H., and Portland to Caribou, Maine, will be most at risk for gusts up to 60 mph and hail up to quarter size.
Further south in the Mid-Atlantic where a hot and steamy air mass has been anchored for days, the risk for a quick powerful thunderstorm or two could ruin travel back from the beaches to the Interstate 95 corridor from southern New Jersey to Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Va., this afternoon and evening. Here, isolated gusts peaking near 60 mph would be the main danger.
Make sure you know the difference between a watch and warning should these be issued for your region. A watch means that severe weather conditions are possible, and you should have a plan for acting, but a warning means severe weather is imminent and you need to act fast to save life and property. If all else fails, just acting on the phrase “When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors” can save your life.