4 Things to Know About This Week's Weather

Cascade Snow To Be Measured In Feet

In the last full week of May, one area that was repeatedly soaked last week will see some relief while another area might see another round of heavy rain.

Thunderstorms will cluster in parts of the heartland and flare up each day in the West, which could add to ongoing spring flooding in some areas.

Here are the four things we'll be watching in the week ahead.

1. Another Moisture Surge = More Liquid Sunshine

While parts of Florida and the Southeast slipped into drought this spring, some in the Sunshine State may be getting rain fatigue.

Many cities in Florida had one of their wettest May 13-to-19 periods on record due to the drenching downpours. Other parts of the Southeast have seen flooding rainfall, including parts of the Piedmont of the Carolinas.

Early in the week ahead, more hit-or-miss scattered thunderstorms are expected across Florida and the South, generally on the order of what you'd find on a typical summer day. Some of these may trigger localized flooding in a few spots.

Later in the week, however, a more potent surge of deep tropical moisture from the Caribbean Sea will push into Florida and parts of the South heading into Memorial Day weekend.

This could give rise to steadier, heavier bands of rain – the type of rain that could wash out a day or two at the beach during a busy holiday weekend – where the plume of moisture moves in across Florida and the northern/eastern Gulf Coast.

There is the potential for an area of low pressure to develop in the Gulf of Mexico in association with this moisture surge. This system may have to monitored for development into a subtropical or tropical depression or storm late this week. 

For more details on this story, see the link below.

(MORE: Heavy Rain in the South Regardless of Tropical or Subtropical Development)

2. A Break From the Rain, At Last

Speaking of rain fatigue, let's consider the Northeast.

Saturday marked the eighth-straight day that Baltimore and Washington D.C. picked up measurable rain. These repeated rounds of rain triggered flash flooding in parts of Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

(MORE: We're Entering the Prime Time of Year For Flash Flooding)

Though showers and thunderstorms will linger in parts of the mid-Atlantic states Monday and Tuesday, a stronger cold front should sweep through around midweek, bringing a refreshingly dry day by Thursday, possibly lingering into Friday.

Not to be meteorological Debby Downers, but the aforementioned moisture surge into the Southeast late this week might then push up the East Coast during the holiday weekend.

Details are still to be determined, so, for now, focus on that nicer stretch of weather.

(MAPS: Weekly Planner)

3. Heartland's Summer Thunderstorm Clusters

Typical for late-spring and summer, we'll see multiple rounds of thunderstorms clustered together in parts of the Plains and Midwest – what meteorologists refer to as "mesoscale convective systems."

Those bouts of storms could be locally strong to severe at times, producing damaging wind gusts and large hail. Parts of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys could see some stronger storms into Monday. Heavy rain may also accompany the storms.

If multiple thunderstorm clusters track over similar areas in the week ahead, the threat of flash flooding would rise and become more widespread.

(MAPS: 7-Day U.S. Rain Forecast)

4. Daily Storms, Warmth in the West Add to Flood Concerns

Thunderstorms will also flare up each afternoon and evening over much of the Mountain West, with the exception of the deserts of Arizona and Southern California.

This is due to warm, somewhat humid air flowing up the slopes of the mountains, and generally low pressure aloft providing a pocket of cooler air in the upper levels of the atmosphere, increasing instability for thunderstorms.

These afternoon and evening storms may be quite numerous, not just over the Rockies, but also in parts of the Great Basin, Northwest and even the Sierra and Siskiyous of California through midweek.

Some of these thunderstorms could flare up over areas dealing with ongoing flooding in parts of northern Washington, northern Idaho and Montana.

That, coupled with continued warm temperatures, could maintain river flooding well into this week or beyond.

(MAPS: 10-Day U.S. Forecast Highs and Lows)