Another major Pacific storm is bearing down on the Midwest and, this time, Missouri is in the danger zone. As of late this afternoon, the cold front stretched from eastern New Mexico to southern Iowa, bisecting the State of Kansas. It was 25 in Denver, 34 in Omaha and 33 in Des Moines; at the same time, it was 80 in Oklahoma City, 70 in Little Rock and in the sixties throughout Missouri.
The warm sector ahead of the storm is the zone at risk for severe thunderstorms. As the storm front arrives, cold air undercuts and lifts the warm, moist air. In addition, strong, southerly winds collide with high energy westerlies, producing rotation in the rising, unstable air mass; high winds, large hail and tornados often result. The center of the storm is currently in southeast Colorado but will race to northeast Kansas by tonight, dragging the cold front with it.
Such high intensity storms are common along the Gulf Coast in late winter but more typically invade Missouri from April through June. Come midnight, it will surely sound like spring.
