Cool temperatures in Southern California could give way to ‘potent storm’ by weekend
A rare system to watch for this winter has arrived. But don’t go away just yet.
A potent storm is brewing in the South by Sunday, with severe weather possible from the mid-Atlantic to the Southwest — including the potential for tornadoes — and even the possibility of damaging floods from rain totals of 10 inches or more.
“This is going to be a unique system that is developing right now and very severe right now,” said Mark Longabaugh, a senior meteorologist with the Weather Channel.
The storm “is building slowly, but in the past two days, it has really developed into something that can have some pretty good effects,” Longabaugh said.
The rare system could become “potent” from Saturday afternoon through Monday, Longabaugh said.
A potent system is coming Sunday that could bring storms to North America from the mid-Atlantic to the Southwest, including potential tornadoes and flooding. (Kirk Mckeon / The Associated Press)
Storm system starts
The powerful storm system is coming over the Pacific Coast from the Gulf of Mexico. The storm could become potent from Saturday afternoon through Monday, Longabaugh said.
“It would be the most potent storm that had been seen here in a good long time,” Longabaugh said.
The storm could produce damaging winds, large hail and heavy snowfall from central Mexico, to the central Appalachians and along the West Coast, Longabaugh said.
In addition, a powerful frontal boundary will begin a sharp east-west rotation across the southern United States by midweek. The frontal zone will bring powerful thunderstorms into the region, Longabaugh said.
The first storms are expected from the Mexican coast early Sunday morning, said Longabaugh.
“At that point, there’s more energy in the atmosphere and they will start to rotate and become strong once again, but more on Monday and Wednesday,” he said.
Strong thunderstorms in the western mountains could produce large hail and heavy rain in the late afternoon on Sunday. A strong frontal boundary
