New Flooding Concerns for the Midwest Later This Week

More rain is in the forecast for later this week in parts of the Midwest that have been hit by flooding recently.

A slow-moving storm will take shape over the Plains during the second half of the week. The circulation around that storm will draw some moisture northward from the Gulf of Mexico.

States at risk for enough rain to cause flash and urban flooding problems spanning Wednesday to Saturday include Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arkansas and Tennessee.

While part of the region has had a few days of rain-free weather, enough rain could fall over a several-day stretch to bring renewed poor drainage area and small stream flooding. There is also the potential for new rises on rivers that have crested or are receding during the first part of this week, including the Illinois, Wabash and upper Mississippi rivers.

Most of the rain later this week is projected to fall south of the Red River of the North Basin. However, flooding from melting snow has already set that river on a path for moderate to major flooding.

Most stream and river systems in the area would be able to handle between 2 and 4 inches of rain spread over as many days. However, there is the potential for this sort of rainfall in less than half this time in some locations.

Snowstorm Potential: If all the right pieces were to fall into place, some communities over the central Plains that rarely get a foot of snow from a storm in January may be digging out from a foot of snow by the end of the week.

While such a storm is more common in Denver and the High Plains, such an event is increasingly more rare farther east and over lower elevations in the region. The storm would be hitting some areas from eastern Nebraska to northwestern Iowa, southeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin on May 2 and 3.

AccuWeather.com will continue to provide updates on the snowstorm, the return of cold air to the Plains and any severe weather and flooding consequences farther east in the Central states.

Details will follow as the week progresses.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2013/04/30/new-flooding-concerns-for-midwest-later-this-week/#ixzz2RxuA8IJf