Eastern Pacific continues to spin up storms

With official summer just days away, the weather map is dominated by summertime happenings. More storms in the Plains and more storms over the waters of the Pacific. Plus, encroaching heat.

Weather Watch

Erick forms. Tropical storm Erick developed in the eastern Pacific Ocean overnight, becoming the earliest “E” storm on record in the region. It is forecast to reach 100 mph before making landfall as a Category 2 hurricane along the Mexico coast.

Building heat. Extreme heat has entered the chat. It’s the first time this year that it has been on the map for high population regions of the eastern half of the country. Temperatures are forecast to reach the 90s and around 100 in many spots from the central Plains to the Midwest and East Coast, while extreme heat warnings continue to fly in the Desert Southwest through at least Friday.

Lightning links

Wind gust of 101 mph in Wichita, Kansas on Monday night ties record.

Emergency services warn of wildfire risk before expected UK heatwave.

Tornado of the year?

Nebraska is a tough nut to crack while storm chasing. It’s prone to more failure than places further south, but when it goes off …

And go off, it did!

A gorgeous and slow-moving supercell dropped an equally breathtaking tornado on Monday, which happened to also be the anniversary of the Pilger EF4 twins. Other tornadoes were observed in Minnesota during the afternoon and evening.

The frontal zone partially responsible for storminess drops southward into Kansas on Tuesday, where a Level 4 of 5 moderate risk is in effect, primarily for the threat of widespread damaging wind.

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Weekday morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster. Connecting weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.

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