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Storms could flood parts of eastern US this week

Truckers should expect delays due to potential road closures

(Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Mother Nature will drop more unwelcome rain in the south-central U.S. The pattern has been hard to break over the past several weeks.

Another system will stall over the region Monday and Tuesday, producing potential repeated downpours in some places that have had too much rain recently. The rain, combined with the saturated ground, could lead to more flash flooding and road closures. Flash flooding already occurred in a few spots Monday morning.

Forecasters at the National Weather Service (NWS) have posted a flash flood watch from Dallas-Fort Worth to Shreveport, Louisiana, and Little Rock, Arkansas. They may add more areas to the watch as the system unfolds, with rain totals possibly exceeding 5 inches in some locations.

For the second half of the week, heavy rain will finally move away from these waterlogged areas, heading northward. Portions of the middle Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee valleys, as well as the Northeast, will get drenched late Tuesday through Friday. There’s a chance of localized flash flooding in these areas too, including places such as Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Nashville, Tennessee; Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky; Indianapolis; Columbus, Ohio; Pittsburgh and Philadelphia; Baltimore; Washington; as well as most of Virginia and North Carolina.


Severe storms

Locally intense thunderstorms could produce severe winds, large hail and isolated tornadoes Monday from the Dakotas and northern Minnesota to Texas and the Arklatex region. This includes the Denver and Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan areas. The severe threat Tuesday will mainly be from the Dakotas to Montana, eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska.

Other notable weather this week

A heat wave will stick around the Northeast Monday. Record highs were tied or set Sunday in Poughkeepsie, New York; Manchester, New Hampshire and Augusta, Maine, where temperatures reached 92, 94 and 89 degrees, respectively.


Highs will be in the 90s again in many places from Pennsylvania to Maine, with heat index values in the upper 90s to possibly 100 degrees. Heat advisories remain posted for the Philadelphia metropolitan area; southern New York; Hartford, Connecticut; Boston; southern New Hampshire; northwestern Vermont; and eastern Maine.

Drivers will also have to beat the heat in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area almost all week. High temperatures there will also be in the 90s, with a heat index in the upper 90s.

In parts of far southern Texas, including Laredo, the heat index will approach 115 degrees Monday afternoon, with actual temperatures of 100 to 110 degrees in the lowlands of western Texas.

Truckers can stay safe by drinking plenty of water. They can also cover their drivers’ seats with light-colored blankets to keep them cool while on breaks.

Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Nick Austin.

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Nick Austin

Nick is a meteorologist with 20 years of forecasting and broadcasting experience. He was nominated for a Midsouth Emmy for his coverage during a 2008 western Tennessee tornado outbreak. He received his Bachelor of Science in Meteorology from Florida State University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Management from the Georgia Tech. Nick is a member of the American Meteorological Society and National Weather Association. As a member of the weather team at WBBJ-TV in Jackson, Tennessee, Nick was nominated for a Mid-South Emmy for live coverage of a major tornado outbreak in February 2008. As part of the weather team at WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Nick shared the Chattanooga Times-Free Press Best of the Best award for “Best Weather Team” eight consecutive years.