This week, another classic springtime storm will sweep through the country, bringing with it a multi-day outbreak of severe thunderstorms with destructive winds, huge hail, and even tornadoes.
During the first part of the week, the setup is conventional for spring, with a steep southern dive of the jet stream and an area of low pressure aloft traveling from California and the Southwest toward the central United States.
That massive storm will have dipped into an abundance of water from the Gulf of Mexico by Tuesday and Wednesday, resulting in widespread rain and thunderstorms throughout the southern and central United States.
Severe weather around California
As storm rolled into the region bringing a lot of rain and snow, a winter storm warning was issued for mountain areas in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties on Sunday.
The National Weather Service in San Diego predicted that coastal and valley regions in Orange, San Diego, western Riverside, and southern San Bernardino counties will receive .75 to 1.5 inches of rain Monday into Tuesday morning, as per LA Daily News.
The National Weather Service in Los Angeles forecasted 1 to 2.5 inches of rain for coastal and valley regions in its service area, which includes Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
The Alisal burn region in Santa Barbara, where vegetation was burnt away by a fire this past fall, is of special concern.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for the area early Monday as rain fell.
The warning was in place until 8:45 a.m. local time.
It warned that "a life-threatening debris flow is either occurring or is anticipated to commence shortly," as per the Washington Post.
Drainages, roads, and dwellings in and just below the fire area will be impacted by mud, rock, and debris flows.
The most of the rain is expected to fall in a two- to four-hour period Monday morning, with the possibility of "extremely unusual" thunderstorms.
According to the Weather Service, any thunderstorm that forms might bring torrential downpours, accumulating tiny hail, and powerful wind gusts.
The atmosphere is rotating sufficiently to allow for the production of waterspouts over the water.
The combination of high gusts of up to 65 mph and heavy snow in the mountains may cause "whiteout conditions," according to the National Weather Service.
Also Read: Developing Storm System to Bring Severe Weather in the Eastern Half of the United States
Weather forecast for this week
Tuesday-Tuesday night
In the Plains and Midwest, rain and thunderstorms will become widespread by late Tuesday, especially Tuesday night.
Severe weather is expected to move into northern and central Texas, eastern Kansas, western Missouri, western Arkansas, and maybe Iowa.
These storms could bring severe winds, big hail, and the potential of a tornado.
In many of the same regions, localized flash floods from heavy rain cannot be ruled out.
Wednesday-Wednesday night
By the middle of the week, soaking rain and thunderstorms will have expanded further east throughout the Midwest and South.
Storms are expected to hit Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, the western Florida Panhandle, and the lower Ohio Valley from eastern Texas.
On the western end of the severe danger region illustrated below, a squall line of strong to severe storms is anticipated to be ongoing in the morning.
As it moves eastward through the day, that line of storms will provide a major weather hazard.
There may be a few isolated supercells that form ahead of this line, causing severe weather, but that element of the prediction is still questionable.
Related article: Powerful Storm May Trigger Another Round of Severe Weather in Southeast