WeatherFanatics: New Round of Rain May Delay Travel, Trigger Flooding in Midwest

Monday, August 18, 2014

New Round of Rain May Delay Travel, Trigger Flooding in Midwest

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

August 18,2014; 9:24PM,EDT

A new wave of drenching showers and thunderstorms will roll from Minneapolis to Detroit and Chicago through midweek.
The risk of travel delays and interruptions to outdoor activities caused by blinding downpours and incidents of flash and urban flooding will sweep southeastward across the North Central states.
As one cluster of showers and storms pushed southeastward across part of the mid-Atlantic and South, a new batch of showers and thunderstorms was already forming over the Dakotas and Minnesota.

Over the weekend, the early stages of this new cluster of storms unloaded 2.50 inches of rain on Glenwood, Minnesota, and more than 4 inches of rain on Garrison, North Dakota.
As the new batch of storms rolls southeastward over the North Central states, cities from Minneapolis to Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh can be affected by drenching downpours and locally gusty storms.

Downpours will also affect cities from Omaha, Nebraska, to Kansas City, Missouri, Des Moines, Iowa, and St. Louis.
The risk of locally heavy rainfall will continue around Minneapolis Monday night.
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INFOGRAPHIC: Heavy Rainfall Submerges Areas From Detroit to Boston
Areas that have recently been hit by heavy rain are at an elevated risk of flash flooding.
Portions of southern Illinois were hit with 2 to 5 inches of rain and lowland flooding during Saturday night into Sunday morning. More heavy rain may drift across this area during Tuesday.
With 5 inches of rain thus far this month at Detroit, the city has had three times their normal rainfall. More than 90 percent of this rain fell on Aug. 11, which resulted in major flash flooding. The greatest risk of flooding downpours this week is during Tuesday.
St. Louis has received 4.25 inches of rain for the month through Aug. 16, which is more than two and a half times its normal rainfall.
Even in areas where normal or below-average rainfall has occurred this month, torrential downpours on urban areas can quickly flood streets and parking lots.
Remember to never drive through flooded roadways. In some cases waters may still be rising or the road beneath may have been washed out. Only a couple of feet of water can cause your vehicle to be swept away.
The moist soil conditions will continue to keep temperatures at bay over much of the region while heat builds on a consistent basis with increasing amounts of sunshine farther south over the Central states this week.
It is possible heat builds for a time over the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes during the last week in August, provided the number of showers and thunderstorms decrease.