Plenty of heavy rain on the way through the holiday weekend, thank goodness

We go months without beneficial rain across the southern and eastern United States, and then we get a long slog of daily rainfall chances just in time for the unofficial kickoff of the summer season.

The upcoming pattern is ideal for waves of heavy rain and thunderstorms to wash over portions of the southern and eastern United States over the next seven days. Many of these regions are mired in drought conditions and need any rain they can get–though it’ll be too much of a good thing for some areas.

A ridge of high pressure near/over the Southeast, combined with a series of troughs moving into the central U.S., will set up persistent boundaries that stretch from southern Texas through the Mid-Atlantic.

Steady moisture streaming out of the Gulf of Mexico will run over this boundary and fuel multiple rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms through this week and into the long holiday weekend.

Forecasters with the Weather Prediction Center are calling for as much as 5-7+ inches of rain across a wide swath of Texas and Louisiana, as well as portions of Mississippi and Arkansas. We could see several inches of rain as far north as Lake Erie. 

Unfortunately, the upper-level setup will prevent much of the rain from falling across areas that desperately need the precipitation, such as Florida and much of Georgia. 

Last week’s update of the U.S. Drought Monitor found 99.00% of the Southeast (AL, GA, FL, SC, NC, VA) in a moderate drought or worse.

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