Hey, everyone, and welcome back to Meteorology
Matters. It seems like, well, everywhere you
look these days, the weather's making headlines,
and, you know, sometimes not for good reasons.
Yeah, that's for sure. We've had quite a run
of intense events lately, haven't we? Yeah, we
really have. And we're going to kind of dive
into a couple of those today to kind of dissect
what happened and what's maybe on the horizon,
too. Sounds good. So, you know, let's start with
what happened down in South Texas and across
the border into Mexico. I mean, the pictures
and videos coming out of there are just, well,
they're hard to believe. I know. You see those
rainfall totals and you just, I don't know, it's
hard to wrap your head around it. Over 20 inches
of rain in what, like 48 hours? Yeah. Thursday
and Friday, bam, just like that. I mean, think
about it. That's like half a year's worth of
rain for some of those areas. Just poof, two
days. Yeah. It's just an incredible amount of
water in such a short period of time. And the
thing is, that much water that fast? It just
doesn't have anywhere to go. Right. And that's
when you start to see the real trouble, the flooding,
the rescues, tragically even, you know, loss
of life. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we've already
had confirmation of at least four deaths related
to this flooding, three in Hidalgo County, Texas,
and then one just across the border in Reynosa,
Tomalipas, Mexico. And the stories coming out
are just, I mean, heartbreaking, right? People
needing to be rescued from their homes, cars
stranded. I saw a picture of a fire truck almost
totally underwater. I saw that one, too, and
another one. A couple of those big passenger
buses completely submerged. Yeah. Just, I don't
know, it gives you a sense of just how quickly
things went bad. Yeah, no kidding. It's not like
a little puddle in the road. This was serious
flooding. And, you know, beyond that immediate
danger, you've got the long -term impacts, too.
Oh, yeah, absolutely. We're hearing reports of
pretty widespread damage. to homes and businesses,
you know, flooded out, just wrecked. And it's
not just the structures either, right? The agricultural
impacts, the crops, the livestock. I mean, that's
people's livelihoods. It is. And that's going
to take a while to bounce back from. Hidalgo
County actually declared a local disaster, you
know, to try to get resources flowing to where
they're needed most. Yeah, that's a huge step
in starting the recovery process, getting things
back on track. We actually heard from a couple
of residents down there. One was a guy named
Victor, lives in Primera, Texas. Oh, yeah. What
do you have to say? Well, he was saying, you
know, they're kind of used to bad weather down
there, but this was just different. The speed,
the amount of water, it just came on so fast.
He said it brought back a lot of memories of
past storms, you know, kind of that feeling of
helplessness. Make sense, especially for folks
who have been through this kind of thing before.
It must bring back a lot of, I don't know, anxiety,
maybe even trauma. Yeah, no question. It's a
long road to recovery, both physically and mentally.
But, you know, while they're dealing with the
aftermath of that down south, we've got another
weather story brewing that we need to talk about.
Yeah, definitely. We've got a. Well, I guess
you could call it a multi -day severe weather
event shaping up across a big chunk of the central
and eastern U .S. So not just your average afternoon
thunderstorms. This is something a little more
serious. Exactly. We're talking about the potential
for strong tornadoes, you know, the kind that
can cause significant damage also. large hail,
maybe even baseball sized in some areas, and
then those damaging straight line winds, you
know, that can knock down trees and power lines.
Okay, so where exactly are we talking about here?
Where should people be on high alert? Well, today,
Sunday, the main area of concern is kind of a
swath from northern Louisiana all the way up
to just south of Chicago. I mean, that's a big
chunk of real estate. And that's the area with
the highest risk, right? Most likely to see this
really severe weather. Right. The National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, their storm prediction
center, they've actually issued an enhanced risk
for that area. So yeah, if you're anywhere in
that zone, today's the day to be paying extra
close attention to the weather. Definitely. Definitely.
So all right, what about tomorrow, Monday? Does
this thing just fizzle out or? No, no, it doesn't
fizzle out. It actually kind of shifts eastward.
So by Monday, it's the eastern seaboard that
needs to be on guard. And it's a big area. It
could be anything from New England down to Florida.
OK, so that's what, like a thousand miles of
coastline? Pretty much, yeah. But it seems like
the Carolinas and Georgia, that's where the most
concentrated risk is for those damaging wind
gusts and maybe some isolated tornadoes. But
there's a chance it could go further north, too,
right? Yeah, there's a chance. The forecast models
are still a little iffy on this. But there's
a chance that tornado risk could extend up into
the mid -Atlantic, maybe even towards DC and
Baltimore. So that's something to watch for sure.
Definitely. You know, it's interesting, right?
We've got this massive flooding event down south
and then this totally separate system cranking
up severe weather in a totally different part
of the country. It's a good reminder, isn't it,
that weather is, well, weather is just a powerful
force. We can't control it, but we can prepare
for it. Exactly. And, you know, speaking of preparing,
it might be a good time to talk about the, well,
the why behind all this. Like, what's causing
this whole severe weather outbreak? Yeah, yeah,
let's do that. So break it down for us. What's
going on up there in the atmosphere? So the main
driver here is this big dip or trough in the
jet stream way out west over North America. And
these dips, they often lead to the formation
of low pressure systems down at the surface.
And in this case, we've got a low pressure system
over Kansas. Right. Right. And it formed on Saturday,
Western Kansas. And that low pressure system,
it's kind of like a vacuum cleaner. You know,
it's sucking all this warm, moist air up from
the Gulf of Mexico. And that's the fuel, right,
for the thunderstorms. Exactly. Warm, moist air.
That's what thunderstorms love. So as that low
pressure system moves east, which it is, it's
dragging all that juicy Gulf air with it. So
it's headed towards the Great Lakes. Right. And
then eventually into Canada. That's the track.
Yeah. And then behind it, you've got this cooler,
drier air coming in and that clash, that boundary
where those two air masses meet. That's where
you get the fireworks, the thunderstorms. OK,
so we've got the fuel. We've got the clash of
air masses. What else is making these storms
so potent? Well, there's also something called
wind shear. And that's basically when the wind
speed or direction changes with height, you know,
as you go up in the atmosphere. Yeah. And the
jet stream, it's packing some pretty strong winds
up high. So the jet stream is helping to create
this wind shear. Exactly. And wind shear is important
because it can make thunderstorms rotate. And
when thunderstorms rotate, you get what are called
supercells. And supercells, those are the ones
that can spawn tornadoes, right? That's right.
They're the ones that can produce the most intense,
severe weather, tornadoes, large hail, the whole
shebang. So, bottom line, if you're anywhere
in the central or eastern U .S. right now, keep
an eye on the sky, keep an eye on the forecast,
and be prepared, just in case. Couldn't have
said it better myself. Have a way to get weather
alerts, know where you'd go if a tornado warning
is issued, you know, be ready. Absolutely. And,
you know, to kind of wrap things up for everyone
today, we've talked about two very different
but - both very serious weather events. Down
in South Texas and Mexico, the incredible flooding,
over 20 inches of rain in some areas, just unbelievable.
We talked about the tragic loss of life, three
people in Hidalgo County, Texas, and one in Reynosa,
Mexico. And, you know, all those rescues, hundreds
of them, people needing to be pulled from flooded
homes and cars. Those images of Harlingen and
Tomalapus, just incredible. Yeah. And then the
damage not just to homes and businesses, but
to crops and livestock. It's a long road. recovery
for those communities. Yeah, no doubt. And then,
you know, shifting gears completely, we've got
this severe weather threat ramping up across
the central and eastern U .S. Sunday. That's
today is the day of highest concern, especially
for that zone from northern Louisiana up to just
south of Chicago. Strong tornadoes, large hail,
damaging winds. It's all on the table. And then
by Monday, the focus shifts eastward, hitting
the eastern seaboard from New England down to
Florida. But with the Carolinas and Georgia looking
like the bullseye for the worst of it, could
even see some tornadoes up towards DC and Baltimore,
though that's still a bit uncertain. And you
know, we talked about the why behind all this,
the dip in the jet stream, that low pressure
system over Kansas pulling up all that warm,
moist air from the Gulf, the clash of air masses,
the wind shear. It's like a recipe for severe
weather, unfortunately. It is, yeah. But the
good news is we can see it coming. and we can
prepare. Exactly. So be sure to check your local
forecasts, have a plan in place, and stay safe
out there. And for more in -depth weather coverage,
you can follow meteorologist Rob Jones on Instagram
at Meteorologist, on TikTok at TV Meteorologist,
and on YouTube, follow Rob Jones Hurricane, where
you can also find the Meteorology Matters podcast
playlist. Stay informed, stay safe, and we'll
see you next time.