Monday / Tuesday Possible Severe

With near record temperatures and a steady wind, some of you might be thinking "Gee, it's too warm for this time of year, I wonder if we're going to get some strong storms?" If you had such a thought, your thinking was correct. We're looking at a clash of the air masses situation late Monday and into Tuesday. The potential of damaging winds and isolated tornadoes looks to accompany our next weather maker.

The Jetstream to our west has been very active and strong. As a sharp trough passes through our area with this jetstream energy, the potential for supercell thunderstorms will exist. All of the wind from the South in advance of the trough has been transporting moisture to our area. This will serve as "fuel" for the storms. Winds aloft will be more from the West. This difference in wind direction with height promotes strong rotating thunderstorms.

What's left to be seen is the timing of the event. A cold front will provide the necessary lift for storm development late on Monday, but to what extent the severity becomes, will depend on how warm we get on Monday. The warmer we are, the more unstable the atmosphere will be and the greater the threat. We're closely monitoring developments.

Keep it tuned to 4029 weather... we've got you covered on-air and online.

Posted by Ted Zarras at 8:31 PM