Rain may make firefighting efforts in the south a little easier. And cooler weather will arrive across the country.
Record drought fuels wildfires in Southeast
A record drought in the Southeast continues to spark wildfires across Florida and Georgia, and the fires release enough smoke to reduce air quality across the region.
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With a record drought hitting the Southeast and fueling fast-moving wildfires in Georgia and Florida, forecasters say there could be more weather changes across the country toward the end of April, but some relief from rain later in the week.
Wildfires have burned tens of thousands of acres in the South, destroying homes, prompting evacuations and closing major roads. Dry conditions and winds make it easy for fires to spread. One of Georgia’s largest fires has doubled in size over the weekend, authorities said.
According to AccuWeather, multiple showers and thunderstorms are expected this week. While the rain will help put out the fire in the short term, it is not enough to reverse the region’s record-breaking drought, the newspaper reported.
“Deep rain is expected to become more widespread from Texas to Georgia and northern Florida by late week, providing the best chance for meaningful relief and a temporary reduction in wildfire risk,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Brandon Buckingham.
The moisture arriving in the Southeast is one of several weather patterns expected to sweep the nation over the coming week, including a week of storms and tornadoes followed by cooler weather in the East and milder weather in the central United States.
With rain forecast again, hopes are high for wildfire efforts
AccuWeather said some parts of the Southeast could see more than an inch of rain by the end of the week, while others won’t get any at all. Either way, it won’t be enough to alleviate long-term drought. However, it may help in the short term.
“This rain will help, but it won’t eliminate the drought,” Buckingham said. “We will need sustained rainfall of 10 to 20 inches or more to fully recover from the current drought.”
Thunderstorms are expected along the Gulf Coast by mid-week, raising the risk of damage from wind, hail and heavy rain. Then, widespread heavy rain is expected to fall from April 30 to May 1 from Texas to Georgia and northern Florida, AccuWeather reported.
Mr Buckingham said the rain could reduce the amount of dry brush and vegetation that provides fuel for fires, which could last for days or even weeks. But once everything dries out, the fire threat will increase again.
Cool weather is spreading across the country
A cold front is heading east, and the National Weather Service predicts temperatures in the eastern United States will be 10 to 15 degrees below normal for this time of year starting April 30.
According to the Weather Prediction Center, a cold air pattern will hit the northern part of the country in May.
Forecasters say a cold high-pressure system from Canada will bring the potential for frost and ice to the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and Appalachian Mountains.
A spring freeze will bring low temperatures into the 30s and even low 20s Saturday, May 2, in states including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, interior western New York and other northern states, forecasters said. Late-season snow is possible in northern New England and the Adirondack mountains during the first weekend of May, AccuWeather reported. From May 3 to May 7, temperatures are expected to be below normal in much of the eastern half of the country.
The end of the daily tornadoes and violent storms is in sight.
Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes have been occurring in rapid succession across the central United States for much of the week, but forecasters expect activity to begin to subside later in the week. According to AccuWeather, there have already been hundreds of reports of wind and hail damage this week, and more than 30 tornadoes were reported last weekend.
AccuWeather reports that additional storms are expected on April 28, with the greatest threat stretching from northeast Texas through Arkansas to northern Mississippi. The area is at risk for large to “huge” hail and a small number of tornadoes, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
On April 29, the storm danger will shift south toward the Gulf Coast, but “the overall extent and intensity of these storms is expected to decrease,” the weather service said. By April 30, the Storm Prediction Center announced that the risk of severe storms was less than 5%.
