As Hurricane Dolly made landfall in South Texas last week, a dome of high pressure was forming over the Southern Plains. Following the outer rim of that dome, Dolly moved westward into Mexico and then northwestward, stalling in southeast New Mexico and producing floods across that region. Over the past 24 hours, the storm remnants have drifted northward and the central low pressure now sits above the westernmost panhandle of Oklahoma, bringing upslope rains to the Colorado Front Range.
As Dolly continues to skirt the dome of high pressure, air within the dome is sinking, producing extreme heat across northern Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. By mid week, a Pacific cold front, moving down from the northwest, will sweep the remnant moisture of Dolly into the Heartland, producing storms across Kansas, Iowa and Missouri. Unfortunately, for residents of the Southern Plains, the high pressure dome will hold, the heat will persist and Dolly's final gasp will push off toward the Upper Midwest.
