Blog Article

Severe Weather Threatens Twins Game & Texas Faces Flooding

An Enhanced Risk for severe weather targets Minneapolis during Monday's Twins-Red Sox game. Plus, Central Texas faces excessive rainfall and flooding tonight.

Severe Weather Threatens Twins Game & Texas Faces Flooding

Baseball, Big Hail, and Texas Downpours

You know what ruins a perfectly good Monday night baseball game? Two-inch hail.

The Boston Red Sox are in Minneapolis tomorrow evening to take on the Twins. Target Field is a beautiful outdoor stadium. But if you have tickets to that game, you need to be paying very close attention to the forecast. The Storm Prediction Center has placed an Enhanced Risk for severe weather right over central and eastern Minnesota for Monday. That includes the entire Minneapolis and St. Paul metro area, along with Bloomington and Plymouth.

We are looking at a highly volatile setup for the Upper Midwest. A strong low-level jet is going to pump a ton of moisture and energy into the region. Normally in April, Minneapolis is sitting around 57 degrees for a high. Tomorrow, the atmosphere is going to become highly unstable. The main threats here are very large hail and the potential for strong tornadoes.

We are talking about hail two to three inches in diameter. That will dent a lot more than a batting helmet. If you are tailgating or heading to the ballpark, you need to know exactly where you will take shelter when a warning is issued.

The Water Problem in Texas

While the Upper Midwest braces for Monday, Central Texas is dealing with an immediate water problem tonight. We have a Slight Risk for excessive rainfall right now for places like San Antonio, Austin, and Waco.

A broad trough out west is shooting energy straight into the Southern Plains. Combine that with a narrow jet streak and a whole lot of moisture moving in from the Gulf, and you get heavy, training rain. The Weather Prediction Center is highlighting this corridor for localized flash flooding through Monday morning.

Here is what you need to know if you are in Texas tonight:

  • Atmospheric moisture transport values are unusually high for this time of year.
  • The setup favors thunderstorms repeatedly moving over the exact same areas.
  • The I-35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio is right in the crosshairs for heavy downpours.

Fire Weather on the High Plains

Just to show you how dynamic this spring pattern is, we have a completely different extreme happening just a few states away.

While Texas gets soaked and Minnesota watches for supercells, the High Plains are bone dry. Southeast Colorado, the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, and eastern Wyoming have Critical fire weather conditions in place for Monday. We are expecting 20 to 30 mph sustained winds paired with relative humidity dropping down to 10 percent. Any spark in those areas will spread rapidly through the dry brush.

https://ryanhallyall.com/blog/baseball-big-hail-and-texas-downpours