Flood Threat? Maybe Not

Was asked why I'm not talking about the flood threat. This is being prompted by the forecasts of very heavy rains over the Central Plains the next ten days.

European model, click to enlarge

Yes, rainfalls of more than seven inches (do not take the positions literally, just that heavy rains are likely in the Central Plains) are forecast. HOWEVER, we are still in a serious drought. Below are the amounts of rain in addition to normal needed to end the drought:

While this map's data period ended at 7am Saturday (i.e., does not include Sunday's substantial rains), if we can get the forecast rains to spread out over several days we can probably avoid serious flooding. Regardless, it is probably a good idea to keep this in the back of your mind late this week and over the weekend.