National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Heat and Fire Weather Concerns in the West; Excessive Rainfall Possible in the South-Central U.S.

Heat will build over the Intermountain West and the Southwest the next couple of days. Lightning from dry thunderstorms can create new fire starts and combined with gusty winds may cause a fire to rapidly grow in Oregon and northern California. Flash flooding will be possible in New Mexico and west Texas today, as well as parts of the southern and central Plains due to slow moving thunderstorms. Read More >

Overview

A significant low pressure system approached the northern plains on Friday, April 22. Ahead of this system, warm, moist air was advected into our region. Thunderstorms began to develop early Friday evening, some of which became severe, dropping large hail and producing strong winds. Several places received an inch or two of rain, much needed in our current drought situation. Storms moved eastward and dissipated Friday night. On Saturday morning, precipitation increased again, and rain changed over to snow. Northwesterly winds became strong, gusting to 70+ mph in some locations. The strong winds combined with the falling snow created very poor visibilities and hazardous travel conditions. Some areas received heavy snow, but even in areas that didn't receive heavy snow, the blowing snow caused blizzard conditions. 

Horses
West of Gillette (A. Cope)
nws logo Media use of NWS Web News Stories is encouraged!
Please acknowledge the NWS as the source of any news information accessed from this site.
nws logo