Heavy Rain Threat Returns to Flood-Weary Arkansas and Mississippi River Valleys Father's Day Weekend

Locally heavy rain is expected to return to the Arkansas and Mississippi River valleys by Father's Day weekend, bringing another risk of flash flooding to rain-fatigued parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma that could last well into next week. By this weekend, the jet stream will flatten and flow more west-to-east than the current rollercoaster pattern that takes it northward into the West and then plunges it southward into the Plains. When the jet stream flattens in summer, a frontal system eventually stalls out. In this case, it appears it will stall somewhere from the central or southern Plains into the mid-Mississippi and Ohio valleys by early next week.

The exact track of thunderstorm clusters can't be known this far out, but the general area with a risk of at least locally heavy rain stretches from parts of Oklahoma and Kansas into the Ohio Valley. Local flash flooding is possible with any of these thunderstorm clusters since the ground is so saturated in this zone. According to National Weather Service flash flood guidance, it may take less than 3 inches of rain in a three-hour period to trigger flash flooding in parts of the Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio valleys.

We recognize the severe impact that current conditions are having on our customers and we are committed to restoring service levels as quickly as possible. As a result of these weather issues, the ALG Client Service Team will send daily updates as we monitor the progress and track job level impact.