Weather
Rains ahead for Drought areas of the southern Plains
During the next few days, a sharp frontal boundary will develop from the southern Plains to the southern Appalachians. North of the boundary, cool, dry weather will cover the Great Lakes region.
Farther south, 5-day rainfall totals could reach 2 to 4 inches or more from central and eastern sections of Kansas and Oklahoma into the middle Atlantic States. Across the Deep South, humid weather will accompany scattered showers.
Meanwhile, little or no rain will fall west of the Rockies, where temperatures will rise to significantly above-normal levels. Some of the most intense heat will affect the Southwest, during a lull in monsoon-related shower activity.
Looking ahead, the 6- to 10-day outlook calls for the likelihood of above-normal temperatures along the Atlantic Seaboard and across much of the western half of the U.S., while cooler-than-normal conditions will be limited to the Pacific Northwest and an area stretching from the central Gulf Coast northward into the Corn Belt.
Meanwhile, near- or below-normal rainfall across most of the country should contrast with wetter-than-normal weather in the western Gulf Coast region and the middle Atlantic States.