Southern US downpours to ramp up into September

Showers and thunderstorms will expand over the southern United States during the Labor Day weekend and beyond. AccuWeather meteorologists say some spots could get enough rain to cause flash flooding.

The scope of showers and thunderstorms will expand over the southern United States during the Labor Day weekend and beyond. AccuWeather meteorologists say that not only may the region get enough rainfall to ease drought concerns, but some spots could get enough rain to cause flash flooding.

A cool front will make steady progress through the Midwest and Northeast but is forecast to slow and stall over the South Central and Southeast states from later this weekend to next week.

As this occurs, moisture from both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean may add to growing areas of showers and thunderstorms.

Into the start of the weekend, the pockets of heavy rain and storms will be small and mostly confined to the Florida Peninsula, parts of Louisiana, eastern Texas and the middle Mississippi and Tennessee valleys to the southern Appalachians.

However, as the weekend progresses, the zones will tend to grow together.

By Labor Day, a swath of moisture with showers, thunderstorms and localized torrential downpours will extend from much of Texas to the southern Atlantic coast.

The wettest spots will likely be over the Gulf Coast states from Texas through Mississippi, where 4-8 inches of rain may fall into the middle of next week.

People with outdoor plans should consider scheduling them for the first part of the weekend rather than the latter. Likewise, outdoor activities planned for next week might be better postponed until later in the week.

A lack of showers and thunderstorms in recent weeks has caused drought in the middle and lower parts of the Mississippi Valley and the southern Plains to grow in size and severity after some improvement in these areas around midsummer. Any non-disruptive rainfall would be generally welcomed in these locations.

Beyond the first part of next week, there is the potential for a tropical feature to track northward from the Caribbean Sea.

Depending on its intensity and track, more downpours and the risk of flooding may occur from parts of Florida to the southeastern U.S. mainland.

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