Heavy Showers & Thunderstorms Developing Across Parts of Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho

Enhanced Severe Weather Risk for the Midwest This Afternoon & Evening

09/17/24 12:57pm ET

Grand Junction Regional Radar 09/17/24 12:42pm ETPhoto byNWS

Good afternoon everyone. We are closely watching the pieces of the puzzle coming together for this afternoon and evening's severe weather risk for parts of the Midwest. Vigorous low pressure coming out of the Rockies, plus a subsequent cold front colliding with very warm and humid air, will set the stage for a long rest-of-the-day.

We're already seeing signs that there is plenty of energy around as heavy showers and thunderstorms begin to blossom across western Colorado, eastern & northern Utah, eastern Idaho, and dotting areas across Wyoming. While we don't see any severe weather watches at this time, we are seeing gusty winds, small hail, frequent lightning, and torrential rain with some of these storms.

As everything exits the Rockies, we are expecting a very heavy broken line of severe thunderstorms to set up from South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and down into north Texas. While not everyone will see this action, those who do are in for a rough time.

Thunderstorms late this afternoon and evening will be capable of very large hail, damaging winds up to 75mph in spots, frequent lightning, torrential rain, and the risk for a few strong tornadoes. It is likely we will see large stretches of severe thunderstorm watches and warnings later today and/or tonight. Action will likely begin to settle down a bit in the overnight hours before sunrise.

National Weather Service - Hazardous Weather Outlook - Lincoln, NE