WeatherFanatics: Saturday Severe Storms Target St. Louis, Little Rock, OKC

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Saturday Severe Storms Target St. Louis, Little Rock, OKC

By Brian Lada, Meteorologist

June 7,2014; 10:45AM,EDT

Severe thunderstorms will once again target the southern Plains and the mid-Mississippi Valley through Saturday night.
Saturday has already started with strong thunderstorms whipping up 60-mph winds in Marshfield and Grovespring in south-central Missouri.
The thunderstorms also dropped penny-sized hail as they passed through Springfield.
This complex of thunderstorms will continue to rattle the mid-Mississippi Valley through Saturday evening, targeting St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, Missouri; Paducah, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; and Evansville, Indiana.

Severe thunderstorms will also once again target Arkansas, Oklahoma, West Texas and neighboring parts of southeastern Colorado and northeastern New Mexico Saturday afternoon and night.
This includes Little Rock; Oklahoma City and McAlester, Oklahoma; Amarillo and Lubbock, Texas; and Tucumcari, New Mexico.
Hail as large as baseballs and damaging wind gusts past 70 mph will be the main threat with these storms.
Although the threat for tornadoes does not appear to be as high as it was on Friday, a few twisters may still spin up late Saturday afternoon.
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Thunderstorms through Saturday night may ruin outdoor plans as frequent lightning can make it dangerous for activities such as baseball games and cookouts.
Flooding downpours will be an additional danger, especially in locations that are hit by several storms.
Rainfall amounts are forecast to total as much as 2 to 4 inches over a large area with local amounts upwards of 6 inches possible.
This will be enough rain to cause roads to flood and rivers to rise toward flood stage, forcing some people living closer to rivers and streams to take action.
Remember that if you come across a flooded roadway, it is advised that you do not attempt to drive through it since the water may be deeper than it appears. Turn around; don't drown.

Although these storms may cause flooding as the drop copious amounts of rain, they will bring some good news with them.
Portions of Oklahoma and Texas that are in the path of these severe thunderstorms are currently experiencing an extreme to exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Storms over the past several weeks have already begun to reduce the severity of the drought as they delivered much needed rain across the region.
In Oklahoma alone, rainfall from rounds of thunderstorms have reduced the exceptional drought from 34 percent to 21 percent over the past two weeks.
Even though much more rain is needed to end the drought, this batch of storms will put another dent in the drought as rain fills rivers, lakes and water reservoirs.