ROANOKE, Va. – While the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic has been baking in the heat, the Midwest and Plains have been battered by tornadoes, hail and flooding.
Kansas was ground zero Tuesday for another round of violent tornadoes. A tornado emergency, issued for large, confirmed tornadoes heading toward population, was in effect for areas west of the Kansas City metro. A tornado was also confirmed in eastern Pennsylvania.
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Since May 17, more than 300 tornadoes have been reported. Many of these have already been confirmed, but more storm surveys will be conducted by the National Weather Service to know how many and how strong these twisters were.
It's not just the tornadoes. Record flooding is ongoing or possible through much of the Midwest.
The same mechanism responsible for the searing heat locally is also one of the main players in the repeated severe weather to our west and north. A large area of high pressure has parked itself over the southeast corner of the U.S. for the last week.
That same area of high pressure has been pulling rich humidity, fuel for these storms, north from the Gulf of Mexico. Cooler air in the Pacific Northwest has been clashing with the heat to the south to produce rounds of severe weather in the Plains and Northeast.
The threat for more tornadoes and flooding continues at least through Wednesday and Thursday. High pressure in the south breaks down Friday, allowing for the heat to break locally and a much needed clean sweep of the very active and dangerous weather pattern.