The roadway in front of a country store was washed away by floodwaters in Ludlow, Vt., on Thursday. Photo by C.J. Gunthe/EPA-EFE
July 16 (UPI) — U.S. residents will have a hard time dodging extreme weather conditions on Sunday, with the National Weather Service predicting heavy rain in the Northeast and southern New England, while excessive heat warnings stretch from the Pacific Northwest to Florida.
Meteorologists are forecasting heavy showers and thunderstorms throughout the East and South, including parts of southern Arizona, affecting more than 40 million people.
“Copious amounts of moisture streaming ahead of a cold front slowly approaching from the west will ignite numerous heavy showers and storms from the Mid-Atlantic to the Northeast,” NWS forecasters said.
“These storms will be capable of producing torrential rainfall rates and may also coincide within training areas of thunderstorms. Given some parts of the Northeast contain saturated and sensitive soils from recent heavy rainfall over the past 10 days, this is a setup primed to produce flash flooding that could be significant in affected areas.”
In rain-soaked Vermont, where President Joe Biden has already issued a disaster declaration because of heavy rains and flooding over the past week, moisture is expected to affect there again. One person has died in a flooding-related incident in the state.
The NWS’s Weather Prediction Center said the Delaware Valley on north and east into central New England are at moderate risk for heavy storms, including the New York City, Philadelphia, Hartford and Boston metro areas.
The weather service said heat warnings and heat advisories have been issued for the Pacific Northwest, California and the Great Basin to parts of the Southern Plains, Central Gulf Coast and South Florida.
While southern Arizona is expected to see strong other parts of the state will suffer from oppressive heat with some high desert regions reaching 115 degrees.
“The West will continue to contend with an ongoing dangerous heat wave,” the National Weather Service said. “In total, from South Florida and the Gulf Coast to the Southwest, over 80 million people remain under either an Excessive Heat Warning or Heat Advisory as of early this morning.”
Meteorologists said daytime highs in the Southwest will approach the century mark along with the interior Northwest, ranging from 100 to 110 degrees, where interior California and the Great Basin will top 115.
“Record-breaking warm daily minimums are expected in parts of the Southwest, along the western Gulf Coast, and in South Florida,” the weather service said.