Severe weather is headed for the upper Midwest, while the NHC warns tropical rains in the Gulf could impact Texas and Louisiana remainder of the week. Northern California orders evacuations amid Rices Fire, plus, the latest weather news and alerts.
Severe weather over the upper Midwest
An area of strong thunderstorms over the upper Midwest has been given a Level 2 severe weather risk by the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) for Wednesday. The areas of concern are northern, central, southeastern and eastern North Dakota; western Minnesota; and north-central, northeastern, central, and west-central South Dakota. The main threats will be damaging winds and large hail, with only a 2% chance of a tornado.
Tropical depression with heavy rain expected for Texas, Louisiana
A disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico could “become a short-lived tropical depression as it nears the middle to lower Texas coast,” the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in an update on Wednesday, giving the storm a 40% chance of development.
“Regardless of development, moisture with the system will bring rain chances for Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana for the remainder of the week,” the NHC said.
Tropical storm Bonnie could form in Atlantic
In the Atlantic, “Potential Tropical Cyclone Two” has an 80% chance of tropical development over the next 48 hours, becoming tropical storm Bonnie, perhaps as early as Wednesday. The storm is currently near Caracas, and tropical storm warnings have been issued for parts of the Caribbean, the Weather Channel reported. The storm is expected to move over parts of northern Venezuela and northern Columbia Wednesday through Thursday morning, according to the NHC.
A third active system, a tropical wave in the Atlantic labeled Disturbance 2, currently has a 30% chance of development over the next 5 days and is expected to move over the Windward Islands late Friday or Saturday and into the eastern Caribbean over the weekend.
NWS weather alerts for Wednesday
Here are the latest weather alerts by the National Weather Service for Wednesday:
Red flag warning: western, southern, and southeastern South Dakota; northern, central, and southwestern Nebraska; northeastern and east-central Colorado; northwestern Kansas; northwestern Iowa;
Wind advisory: northwestern and northeastern Montana, southeastern Idaho, northeastern Wyoming, southeastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota.
Evacuations over Rices Fire in Northern California
A wildfire named the Rices Fire is burning in rural Northern California. It is still uncontained and has forced hundreds of people from their homes, the Weather Channel reported. At least 500 homes and other buildings are threatened, authorities said.
Authorities are using fire crews on the ground and in the air to prevent further spread. The fire started near the South Yuba River State Park about sixty miles northeast of Sacramento.
