Rare meteorological setup leads to historic danger for the South and Midwest

AccuWeather

Storm chasers and meteorologists alike say this week has been unlike any other, with repeated storm threats in the same states day after day. And the worst flooding risk is yet to come.

Transcript

00:00Severe storms usually move fast sweeping through towns, cities and states

00:04leaving behind destruction in just hours. But according to Accu weather

00:08storm chasers this week was different. This is unheard of to me to be in this

00:13area, eastern Arkansas into western Mississippi and Tennessee for three or

00:18four days in a row with legitimate severe weather and tornado chances.

00:21It's not often storm chasers stay put, but this outbreak across the south and

00:25Midwest is rewriting the playbook. Typically it's just a one night thing

00:30and it's over. It's done. This is the first time that I can remember doing a

00:34setup where it just goes days on end. Accu weather expert forecasters are

00:40warning of generational flooding rain totals that could break records and

00:44devastate communities. It's a rare setup with two key ingredients

00:48colliding. Number one, a bona fide atmospheric river that's going to take

00:53moisture from the Caribbean and ram it northward into the mid south. And

00:58number two, we're gonna get severe weather with this. Not only are we

01:02gonna get damaging winds, hail and flooding rain, but I think tornadoes

01:05are on the ground. The highest flood risk will be in the Mississippi Valley

01:08through the weekend with a warning for residents. Rare meteorological

01:13ingredients like this unfortunately produce historically bad outcomes. And

01:19that's exactly what storm chasers will be bracing for while just this time

01:23staying in the same location. It's not uncommon for storm chasers to cover a

01:28lot of ground in the prime months of march through june. But what is

01:32unusual is to be camped out essentially in the same area, especially in an area

01:37displaced so far from the traditional tornado alley for Accu weather. I'm

01:42Ali Reed.

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