Angry storms, 'heat dome' threaten to fuel dangerous weather week
Multiple rounds of thunderstorms will bring risks of flash flooding through the Midwest and East on the periphery of a "heat dome" that could bring triple-digit temperatures to parts of multiple states, AccuWeather warned.
More than 50 million Americans from Texas to Missouri were already under National Weather Service extreme heat warnings or advisories on July 20. Thunderstorms at night could bring hail downpours from southern Nebraska to Canada, with wind gusts possibly reaching 85 miles per hour.
The severe weather threat sweeps across the Midwest and East on July 21, with Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia all facing the possibility of flash flooding and gusty winds. AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said that much of the region was hammered by heavy thunderstorms recently and can't absorb another round.
"We are highly concerned about the risk of dangerous to life-threatening flash flooding in the zone from southern Illinois and Indiana to central and eastern Kentucky, central and southern West Virginia and southwestern Virginia," Sosnowski said.
Heat dome could last for weeks
A bulge in the jet stream developing as high pressure builds could create a persistent heat dome lingering well into August, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Chad Merrill said. The Kansas City, Missouri, area, which hasn't hit 100 degrees in two years, could reach the figure multiple times this week, he said. Dallas could see 100 degrees for the first time in 2025.
"This has the look of a long-lasting heat wave with limited rainfall," Merrill said. "Drought will expand through the central Plains by mid-August and worsen in Kansas and Nebraska, where there are already pockets of moderate to extreme drought."
Number missing in Texas floods drops from 97 to 3, officials say
Number of people missing in deadly Texas flooding drops to 3
The number of people thought to be missing in the devastating floods in Kerr County, Texas, over the Fourth of July holiday weekend has been revised down from 97 to three, officials announced July 19. The city of Kerrville, Texas, said the Kerr County Flood Disaster Joint Information Center confirmed that "through extensive follow-up work among state and local agencies, many individuals who were initially reported as missing have been verified as safe and removed from the list."
On July 15, Gov. Greg Abbott said 97 people were still listed as missing in the greater Kerrville area, down from 160-plus about a week ago. As of July 17, Abbott said, the death toll stood at 135 statewide, with 116 from Kerr County perishing in the floods. Read more here.
Contributing: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Wild weather: Angry storms, 'heat dome' fuel forecast for much of US
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