Over the next few days, two nearly stationary frontal boundaries will dominate the weather pattern in the continental United States.
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One will drape across the southern Plains, Southeast, and southern Mid-Atlantic.
The second frontal system will extend from Canada across the northern and central Plains, intermountain West, and Southwest.
The upper level and surface weather pattern will be fairly stagnant through the end of the work week, and this pattern will support chances of showers and storms each day across the Plains, Lower Mississippi Valley, Southeast, and southern Mid-Atlantic.
Some storms in the Great Plains, Lower Mississippi Valley and Southeast may be strong to severe, and the Storm Prediction Center has issued a Slight Risk of severe thunderstorms (level 2/5) for parts of these regions for today and Wednesday.
Isolated to scattered severe thunderstorms will be possible with damaging winds and large hail as the main threats.
In addition to severe thunderstorm threats, excessive rainfall is expected to threaten parts of the Great Plains, Lower Mississippi Valley, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic through Thursday.
Over the next three days, 2-3+ inches of rainfall are forecast from Maryland to the Florida Panhandle and 1-2+ inches of rainfall are forecast for parts of the northern and central Plains.
Locally higher amounts will be possible, and excessive rainfall may lead to flash flooding.
Today there is a Slight Risk of Excessive Rainfall (level 2/4) in effect for parts of the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Lower Mississippi Valley and a Moderate Risk (level 3/4) in effect for the western Carolinas.
Slight Risks of Excessive Rainfall (level 2/4) are also in effect for parts of the Great Plains, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast for Wednesday and Thursday.
Record breaking heat is forecast to continue in Texas for the next several days as the weather pattern remains the same.
High temperatures are forecast to be in the 100s and 110s in South, Central, and West Texas with heat index values as high as 120 degrees.
Excessive Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories are in effect for most of the state.
Above average temperatures will also persist across the Upper Midwest through the end of the week, while below normal temperatures persist across much of the West, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast.
Texas' power grid operator asked residents Tuesday to voluntarily cut back on electricity due to anticipated record demand on the system as a heat wave kept large swaths of the state and southern U.S. in triple-digit temperatures.
On the last day of spring, the sweltering heat felt more like the middle of summer across the South, where patience was growing thin over outages that have persisted since weekend storms and tornadoes caused widespread damage. ■
The main thing making weather headlines Friday and into the weekend will be the widespread coverage of showers and thunderstorms across much of the central and eastern U.S., with a particular focus across southeast Texas, the Mid-South, and portions of Virginia.