'Weather whiplash:' Out of the freezer and into the warmth with rain, flooding this week
With much of the U.S. currently still enduring a deadly and dangerous deep freeze, it's hard to believe how warm most areas are expected to be this week.
In fact, according to the Climate Prediction Center, odds favor above-average temperatures all week across the entire contiguous 48 states. Highs could soar into the 60s and 70s in some areas of the South.
UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain calls it "weather whiplash," as some parts of the country could see record high temperatures, just a week or so after record lows.
But along with the warmth will come the chance for flooding, forecasters said, thanks because of the combination of heavy rainfall and rapid snowmelt.
Where is flooding possible?
There are three areas most at risk of flooding: along the West Coast, in the South, and in the Ohio Valley/Appalachian regions, Jason Elliott, the service coordination hydrologist at the National Water Center, told Paste BN.
He said the combination of rainstorms, snowmelt and warming temperatures will bring the potential for flooding.
In the West, a plume of moisture will move over parts of northern California, producing heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday, the National Weather Service said. "The associated heavy rain will create mainly localized areas of flash flooding, with urban areas, roads, small streams, narrow canyons/gullies, and burn scars the most vulnerable."
Swain said the Pacific Northwest will also be vulnerable to flooding over the next several days, because of the prediction of warm rain on top of the existing snow and ice.
Trouble from Texas to Tennessee
AccuWeather forecasters were also warning about flooding in the South:
"Our data suggests that part of the zone from central and eastern Texas to western Tennessee may pick up 4-6 inches of rain and locally 8 inches," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Joe Lundberg said. "That's enough rain to trigger urban and flash flooding even in drought areas, but it may also push some of the secondary river levels up significantly."
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Warmth and fog
Along with the flooding, dramatically warmer temperatures will be a big change for residents across the South, according to Elliott.
Weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Erdman said, "This combination of warmer air and rain should melt what's left of the southern snowpack, and could also put a dent into both the Midwest and Northeast snow cover."
Erdman said this warmer, more humid air flowing over still significant snowpack will also lead to areas of fog and low clouds across the Midwest, South and East.