The dome of high pressure that has brought intense heat to the south-central States over the past few weeks is beginning to flatten west to east as the jet stream dips across the Northern Plains and Great Lakes region. The clash between this cold front and the northern rim of the heat dome brought severe storms to Chicagoland last evening and, as the jet pushes southward, the thunderstorms will follow. By tonight, the storm line is forecast to stretch from the Central Plains into the Ohio Valley.
Meanwhile, on the southern side of the heat dome, Tropical Storm Edouard, which formed in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, has moved westward, following the rim of high pressure. This morning, the storm is coming ashore near the Texas-Louisiana border and, hopefully, will bring much needed rain to the southern Plains. Had the heat dome not been in place, the storm would have likely moved northeastward earlier in the week as a less intense cluster of storms.
For now, the heat dome is sandwiched between the approaching cold front and the tropical storm. Over the next few days, its remnants will likely persist along the Texas-Oklahoma border while the cold front, energized by the jet stream, brings a taste of early fall to the Midwest and Eastern States.
