Blog Article

NFL Preseason Returns as August Storm Pattern Shifts South

NFL preseason games hit Jacksonville, Tampa, Denver, and Nashville this week while a persistent storm pattern shifts toward the Ozarks and Mid-South.

Preseason Football Is Back. So Is the August Storm Machine.

Preseason Football Is Back. So Is the August Storm Machine.

Alright folks, football's back. Preseason games are stacking up this week in Jacksonville, Tampa, Denver, and Nashville, and if you're anything like me, you've already got a tailgate chair in the truck bed. But before you fire up the grill, let's talk about what August has actually been doing to this country's weather, because it's been a wild one.

This Month Has Been a Storm Factory

We're 17 days into August, and this month has produced some of the gnarliest non-tornadic wind gusts I've covered all year. A 111 mph gust near Newell, South Dakota on the 11th. A 102 mph gust near Cactus Flat the next day. Then just yesterday, a 97 mph gust near Ardmore, South Dakota, and a 90 mph gust at Ord Airport in Nebraska. Throw in 4.5-inch hail in Iowa and Nebraska, and you've got a pattern of repeated Mesoscale Convective Systems, those big organized clusters of thunderstorms, that just keep firing along the same general corridor.

Here's the thing about an MCS. It's not one storm. It's a whole family of storms that grow upscale into a system with its own internal wind field, strong enough to produce those 90-plus mph gusts without a single tornado involved. That's straight-line wind damage, and it's been shredding trees and power lines from the Dakotas through the Midwest and into the Mid-Atlantic pretty much all month.

A bowing shelf cloud advances across open plains at dusk, dust kicked up along a gravel road in the foreground, warm amber sky fading to deep blue-gray storm base, wide low-angle shot

Where the Threat Sits Tonight and Tomorrow

Tonight's Slight Risk for severe storms covers the Upper Mississippi Valley into the Great Lakes and central Plains, with cities like Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Madison in the crosshairs for damaging gusts and isolated large hail. By Wednesday, that threat slides south and east into the Ozarks, southern Missouri, northern Arkansas, and into western Kentucky and Tennessee, places like Springfield, Jonesboro, and Paducah. We're also watching a Slight Risk for excessive rainfall in that same corridor, with 2 to 4 inches possible and isolated totals near 6 inches on ground that's already had its fill this month.

None of that lines up directly with our NFL host cities this week, and that's good news if you're headed to a game. But it does mean if you're driving through the Ozarks or Mid-South midweek, keep an eye on the sky.

What This Means for Your Football Weekend

  • Jacksonville and Tampa (Panthers-Jaguars, Chiefs-Bucs): Nothing severe is flagged for Florida in the current outlook. Expect typical late-August heat and humidity, Tampa's average high this time of year sits at 91°F, so hydrate like you mean it at that tailgate.
  • Denver (Packers-Broncos): Denver's August norm is a high near 87°F. Afternoon monsoon-style storms are common out there this time of year, but kickoff is in the evening, after the typical peak storm hours.
  • Nashville (Seahawks-Titans, Saturday): Nashville runs hot in August too, average high 90°F. Keep half an eye on the Wednesday-Thursday storm threat we just covered, since that system will have moved through by game day, but soggy ground and lingering cleanup are possible in spots.

The Quiet Storm Way Out in the Pacific

Meanwhile, out in the Central Pacific, Hurricane Lala is back in the news, now a Category 2 with 104 mph winds. This is the same storm that dumped historic flooding on Hawaii's Kau District back on the 16th, with two homes swept away in Naalehu, and produced a jaw-dropping 140 mph gust at the Mauna Kea Summit. Lala has curved north and is now aimed at the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a remote, largely uninhabited string of islands and atolls. No landfall is forecast for populated areas, so this is mostly a story about a storm that's already had its moment on the mainland news cycle.

The Takeaway

Football season is sneaking back into our lives the same week this year's most stubborn storm pattern is sliding toward the Ozarks and Mid-South. If your team's playing in Florida, Colorado, or Tennessee this week, the sky should cooperate. If you're driving through Missouri, Arkansas, or Kentucky to get there, that's a different conversation, so check the radar before you load up the cooler.

https://ryanhallyall.com/blog/preseason-football-is-back-so-is-the-august-storm-machine