Jump To Mid-Summer: Summer Heat, Tropical Trouble, Sluggish Thunderstorms

A pleasant, summery, humid morning today on the golf course behind my
mother-in-law's house in Yankton, South Dakota. Summer heat
has arrived early in this neck of the woods. 

The nation's weather has taken a total jump from spring to what we would expect in mid-summer. And it's not even Memorial Day yet.

Parts of the nation - even some northern areas - are or are about to endure days of near 90 degree heat.

There's a messy tropical system that might affect the Gulf Coast states - the kind that usually waits at least until July to develop.

And there are thunderstorms around. As I mentioned yesterday, the type of thunderstorms that seem to be scattered around the nation are typical of mid-summer: A few severe ones pop up, but they're not parts of big massive storm systems.

These thunderstorms are sluggish, part of weak weather systems, and have the potential to unleash heavy rains and local flash flooding.

Like I said, typical July in the United States.

Oh sure, there are cool pockets. There's a frost advisory tonight in northeastern Maine, for example. In Vermont, there will be probably be one hot day on Friday when temperatures will get into the 80s, but otherwise temperatures will generally be in the seasonable low 70s over the next several days.

At my temporary spring headquarters in Yankton, South Dakota, it's humid, like July. Starting today and going through next Monday, daily high temperatures will approach or exceed 90 degrees.  (Normal high temperatures this time of year in Yankton are in the low to mid 70s.)

Some of the northern and central Plains States - mostly the Dakotas, parts of Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska, could have record highs over the next few days.

This same area was ground zero for the intense cold that afflicted much of the nation in April. This area had the coldest April on record, now it's suddenly full-blown summer in May in the northern Plains.

Then there's that tropical trouble.  There's a weather disturbance near Belize that could turn into a very early season tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico later in the week or toward the weekend. Whether or not it actually develops is open to question, but regardless, it threatens flooding rains for parts of the Deep South this weekend.

The early arrival of summer doesn't mean it's going to stick around. Who knows? June could be cool, for all we know. It's really impossible to tell at this point if the United States summer will be unusually hot or not.

However, over the course of the next week or two, the general consensus is almost all of the nation will be warmer than normal. 

Stay tuned.