After winter blast, heavy rains and melting snow could lead to major problems
On the heels of two rounds of winter blasts across the Midwest and East this week, heavy rain and severe storms Thursday threatened to hammer a stretch of the Southeast amid new concerns of flooding.
As the latest winter storm moved across the nation's northern tier, thunderstorms in parts of the Florida Panhandle, southeastern Alabama and Georgia could fuel torrential downpours and gusty winds, AccuWeather said.
Severe thunderstorms Wednesday night near the central Gulf Coast whipped up gusts that downed trees and spawned possible tornadoes, forecasters said. On Thursday morning, there were tornado warnings in Bay County in northwest Florida.
Parts of Virginia and West Virginia hit with up to a foot of snow this week were also facing a fast melt along with rain and mixed precipitation.
"The risk of flooding may also extend into portions of the Ohio Valley, central Appalachians and the Mid-Atlantic, where rain combines with melting snow and ice jams on area streams and rivers," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.
Flood warnings issued in parts of Georgia
Heavy rain, flash flooding and severe thunderstorms were expected Thursday from southern Louisiana into western Georgia, the National Weather Service said.
River flood warnings were in effect in part of Atlanta on Thursday morning, several of which were in place until Saturday afternoon, and minor flooding was taking place in some areas. Backyards of some homes were already flooding, the alerts said, and part of a YMCA Campground was expected to be inundated with 2 feet of water.
Urban and small stream flash flood risks also extended from northeastern Texas to the North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland coasts on Thursday, Accuweather reported.
Atmospheric river targets Southern California
Another atmospheric river was bringing heavy rain to most parts of California this week, raising concerns over flooding on the heels of an earlier system that broke daily rainfall records, triggered evacuations and led to multiple deaths. The latest bout of rain set in along the central coast of California and the San Francisco Bay area Tuesday and will continue to ramp up Thursday, according to AccuWeather.
The added rain comes as several rivers in Northern California were still near their flood stage after last week's deluge. In Southern California, large swaths of burned land from recent wildfires remain vulnerable to the rain and could quickly become sites of mudslides, forecasters warned.
"This atmospheric river will bring with it multiple inches of rain from the North Bay Area all the way down the coast to San Diego," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Jacob Hinson in an online forecast, adding that most areas will see 1 to 2 inches of rain by Friday.
− Christopher Cann
For the weekend: Will you get rain, snow, sleet or thundestorms?
After a tumultuous weather week, a weekend punch of severe storms could be on deck, forecasters said.
A strong Pacific storm is expected to move across the Mountain West, weather.com said, and could become a major winter system in the Plains and Midwest by Friday, targeting cities such as Chicago, Minneapolis and Des Moines with new rounds of snow.
By Saturday, the system should move into the Northeast. But what areas get hit with rain or snow and which ones see a wintry mix, sleet or ice is still uncertain, forecasters said. But cities such as Cleveland, Ohio, and Pittsburgh should be on alert for dangerous travel conditions, weather.com said.
In the South, severe weather could ramp up again this weekend with damaging winds, drenching rain and possible tornadoes, forecasters said, including in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Fluffy snow for some, wet snow for others. Here's why.
Forecasters said the snow that fell in the Mid-Atlantic Tuesday was dry and fluffy to the north of Washington, D.C., but heavier and wetter to the south. Why is this? Air temperature is the primary factor in determining the kind of snow that falls. While powdery snow is loved by skiers, wet snow is hard to shovel (but great for making snowmen).
Wet snow occurs when the air temperature near the surface is above freezing, causing the snowflakes to partially melt before reaching the surface, CompuWeather said in an online report.
"This causes the snowflakes to become sticky and easily adhere to and accumulate on nearly all outdoor surfaces," CompuWeather meteorologist Eric DeRoche said. Read more here.
− Doyle Rice