Thursday's Weather Outlook

Though small thunderstorms and showers tread across a corridor in the Southwest on Thursday, the focus turns to severe weather springing into May's opening day all the way from Texas through New York. 

A sturdy low-pressure system over the Oklahoma Panhandle seeks to hook northeastward from the Lower Midwest into the eastern Great Lakes as Thursday progresses. Combining with plentiful upper-level energy and unstable air, severe storms are poised to pop across the Mid-South into western Appalachia and into the eastern Rust Belt. All threats are on the table, including isolated tornadoes, damaging wind gusts, hail, and localized flooding events. 

What is more likely for folks across these regions, as well as the High Plains and East Coast, are scattered thunderstorms and showers primarily on Thursday afternoon.  

Toward the West, a stagnant front will bring in more isolated showers and thunderstorms from eastern California into central Colorado. Cooler air will enable light snow, primarily across the Colorado Front Range and even at the peak of the day. The rest of the Southwest and Northwest will evade any inclement weather alongside a dry Florida. 

Heat extends across the nation as we move another month closer to the summer solstice. Temperatures surpass the 70s and 80s across the Mid-Atlantic, the Southeast, the South, the Lower Midwest, the Intermountain West, and the West Coast. Isolated 90s will bring a summery feel to parts of Florida, southwestern Texas, and the Desert Southwest. 

Some 50s and 60s cool residents across New England, the Upper Midwest, the northern and central Plains, and lastly, the middle elevations of the West. The only spots that will keep cool across the first of May will be the Front Range, which will grapple with 40s, 30s, and 20s as elevations increase.