Pre-Christmas severe storm, flood threat to target southern US

By Brett Rathbun, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist

December 22,2015; 10:55PM,EST

 

 

There is the potential for severe thunderstorms, including a few isolated tornadoes, in portions of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys prior to Christmas.
Travelers from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes need to remain aware of rapidly changing weather conditions while heading to their holiday destinations.
JUMP TO: Severe thunderstorms to target areas from Gulf Coast to Ohio Valley | Flash flooding threat from the Gulf Coast to the Carolinas | Active weather pattern to continue into next week

Severe weather outbreak possible

Helping to fuel the severe weather will be a new surge of warmth that will likely bring record high temperatures to a number of locations in the eastern part of the nation into the Christmas holiday.
Severe thunderstorms to target areas from Gulf Coast to Ohio Valley
The severe weather will occur during the middle part of the week.

The greatest risk from the storms is damaging wind gusts. However, several isolated tornadoes can occur in the strongest storms.
According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, "The risk of gusty to locally damaging thunderstorms will develop from northeastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma to western parts of Louisiana and Arkansas during Tuesday night."
On Wednesday, the severe weather threat will throttle up from portions of eastern Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri to western and central Mississippi, western Tennessee, western Kentucky, southern and central Illinois and western Indiana.
The risk of severe weather will continue into Wednesday night and extend from parts of northern and western Alabama to middle Tennessee, central Kentucky, eastern Indiana and part of western Ohio.
Since some of the storms will occur after dark, the situation can be especially dangerous. Some of the storms may contain little lightning and could be difficult to spot well in advance.
Flash flooding threat from the Gulf Coast to the Carolinas
In addition to damaging winds, the risk for flooding will be prevalent farther east.
Locations from the central Gulf Coast to the western Carolinas are at risk for the heaviest rain that may trigger flash flooding.
"Into Christmas Eve, parts of the Gulf Coast could get 4 to 5 inches of rain with locally higher amounts," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski said.
"While this rain will fall over the span of multiple days, flooding will still be a concern given how wet it has been recently," Pydynowski said.

Rainfall across the rest of the Eastern states will generally range from 0.50 of an inch to 1.00 inch with localized totals of 2 inches into Christmas Eve.
Some of the cities at risk for potential flooding include Tallahassee and Pensacola, Florida; Monroe and Alexandria, Louisiana; Jackson and Biloxi, Mississippi; Mobile and Montgomery, Alabama; Atlanta and Macon, Georgia; Greenville and Columbia, South Carolina; Charlotte and Asheville, North Carolina.
"This amount of rain will certainly be enough to cause some flooding issues and create headaches for those traveling to visit friends and family for Christmas," Pydynowski said.
RELATED:
Southeast US interactive radar
Christmas travel weather forecast
Drenching rain to disrupt holiday travel across eastern US
Those traveling along interstates 10, 20, 55, 59, 65, 75 and 85 will be facing days of heavy rainfall and reduced visibility.
Rain jackets and umbrellas will be needed for those doing any last minute shopping for the Christmas holiday.
Drivers are urged to reduce speeds during episodes of heavy rain and ponding on roadways to reduce the risk of hydroplaning.

Never drive through a flooded roadway. Less than 10 inches of flowing water can wash vehicles away.
Keep track of the rain moving across your area by using ​AccuWeather Minutecast®. Mobile users can use their GPS location.
Active weather pattern to continue into next week
Another threat for flooding and severe thunderstorms is likely to follow next week.
"As a major storm is forecast to roll across the southern Rockies, the risk of a significant outbreak of severe weather may increase over the South Central states prior to the start of 2016," Sosnowski said.
"The days of greatest concern would be Sunday, Dec. 27, over the southern Plains and Monday, Dec. 28., over the Mississippi Valley."
Thus far in 2015, there have been only 10 tornado-related fatalities in the United States, which is significantly lower than the 20-year average.

Content contributed by AccuWeather Meteorologist Renee Duff.