Rain, Floods and Severe Storms Give Way to the Season’s First Snow on the Plains
The week has got off to a volatile start for a large swath of the Rockies and the northern Plains. The same weather maker that ushered in heavy rain to Southern California and severe impacts to the Southwest and the Rockies is pushing to the northeast on Monday. Here is the latest on this fluid situation.
Potent Storm Unleashes Heavy Rain and Snow Across Parts of Northern U.S.
A major storm system packing flooding rainfall and the first snow of the season for the northern tier of the nation is causing travel headaches for the last week of October. The storm was responsible for flash flooding across the desert terrain of the Southwest and the Rockies to close out last week. As the energy migrates to the northeast, it is being infused with air cold enough to translate to snow for the Plains region east of the Rockies.
While higher elevations picked up significant snow over the weekend, lighter snowfall has been the story on Monday for the lower terrains east of the Rocky Mountains. Slushy snow is now accumulating across portions of the northern Plains, disrupting the evening commute for many.
The bulk of low-elevation snow is now falling in a zone just east of Rapid City, South Dakota, to the east into Fargo, North Dakota. This swath of land can expect up to an inch or two of accumulation through late Monday. Most of the accumulation will remain on grassy surfaces; however, some wet roads could freeze as the temperature falls overnight.
It is setting up to be a cold start to the day Tuesday in this region. Fargo is forecast to see an overnight low of 34 degrees, making for a cold start to the day on Tuesday. Temperatures will rebound just slightly, topping out in the mid 40s during the peak afternoon heating hours. Any lingering precipitation will transition to rain as the mercury inches up throughout the day.
Moisture Beneficial for Areas Dealing with Drought
The Denver area is likely to dodge this snow event. However, the runoff from the surge of moisture across the Colorado River Basin in recent days will help to ease drought concerns across this parched landscape.
Moving farther to the south, major to record flooding has been the story across parts of the San Juan River in northern New Mexico. Repeated rounds of rain late last week have left the area overly saturated.
Although the rain has been a major disruption in this part of the U.S., the moisture is good news for a large area of land from the Rockies to the Great Basin and into the Plains. Most of this region remains under moderate to exceptional drought conditions. The exception to this has been from eastern Colorado and into northern Kansas, the southeastern corner of Nebraska, and much of Iowa. This swath of real estate picked up enough rain during the summer and early fall months to avoid the drought that is plaguing the surrounding area.
The worst of the severe impacts have eased over the Southwest. However, the same storm that is delivering snow to the north will support the development of severe storms to the south. The primary threat is setting up over portions of New Mexico and West Texas. Likely impacts include hail and high winds. There is also an outside chance that a few tornadoes could spin up within the strongest storm cells.
As of late Monday, places like Roswell, New Mexico, were under a flash flood warning as gusty thunderstorms dumped heavy rain across this part of the state. The rain will ease after the sun goes down, but the threat of flooding could persist. This is a good time to enable smartphone weather notifications.
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