Memorial Day Forecast: Stormy Weather Possible in East, South and Rockies

Chris Dolce
Published: May 28,2017
The final day of the Memorial Day holiday weekend will feature stormy weather over parts of the South and East, while parts of the West sear in summer heat.
A southward dip in the jet stream will be the large-scale weather feature dominating most locations to the east of the Rockies through Monday, which should prevent any major heat from building in the central U.S.
Impulses of energy aloft in that jet stream are also likely to trigger the formation of scattered showers and thunderstorms.

At the same time, a northward bulge in the jet stream over the West Coast will keep much of that region warm and precipitation-free. Another sizable dome of high pressure aloft will keep Florida and the Southeast coast quite hot, as well.
AAA expects Memorial Day weekend travel to be the heaviest since 2005 with 39.3 million travelers. It also marks the third consecutive year travel has grown for the holiday weekend.
With that in mind, here's what travelers can expect for the Memorial Day holiday.
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Memorial Day Forecast

• Wet Areas: Rain and thunderstorms will progress through the Northeast. However, the mid-Atlantic states should dry out by afternoon. Scattered thunderstorms will flare up from the Virginia Tidewater to coastal Texas. Showers and perhaps a thunderstorm could dampen parts of the upper Midwest and northern Plains. Scattered showers and storms will also develop in much of the Rockies, primarily in the afternoon. An isolated storm can't be ruled out over the Cascades, Siskiyous and Sierra, as well.
• Dry Areas: Generally, a swath from the Ohio Valley to Oklahoma and north Texas, as well as the Great Basin of the West, should be dry.
• High Temperatures: Above-average warmth will expand in the West to include the Great Basin, as well as the Northwest. Some cities in the Pacific Northwest may see highs 10 to 25 degrees warmer than average. It will also be hot from Florida to the mid-Atlantic states. Generally cooler-than-average weather will be in place in New England, the upper Midwest, northern Plains, the High Plains and Texas, partially due to rain chances in each area.

Memorial Day Forecast

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