A Rough Wednesday in Store

After tornadoes have already struck early this week in places like Oklahoma, another storm system will be swinging into the mid-section of the country with another bout of severe weather on the way for Wednesday and Wednesday evening.  The Gulf of Mexico is now open for business, pushing dew points above the 60-degree-mark all the way up the southern Mississippi Valley, and more moisture is slated to crawl northward.

US Surface Dew Point Map, Image: Unisys Weather

The dew point is the measure of moisture in the air and it is this moisture that drives thunderstorms.  Once the dew point exceeds 60, in combination with several other factors, the atmosphere is generally primed for thunderstorms and just waiting for a system to move in.

US Infrared Satellite Image, Image: Unisys Weather

It is the system circled above that will be that next system on Wednesday.  Therefore, the Storm Prediction Center has extended an area of slight risk of severe weather all the way up the lower Mississippi Valley and into the mid-Mississippi Valley.  The main threats are damaging winds, hail, and isolated tornadoes.

Severe Weather Outlook Wednesday-Early Thursday, Image: NOAA

Television meteorologists are talking about this elevated threat of severe weather in places like Mobile, New Orleans, and Little Rock.