Tag: National Weather Service

  • Storm Updates: Slight Risk in the Dakotas, Gulf Coast Wind Cells, Florida Flood Pulses — Monday, September 7, 2026

    Storm Updates: Slight Risk in the Dakotas, Gulf Coast Wind Cells, Florida Flood Pulses — Monday, September 7, 2026

    This is a live Labor Day Monday snapshot of local storm-type events across the United States as of the afternoon of Monday, September 7, 2026. These are county- and ZIP-scale thunderstorms — hail, damaging wind, and short-fuse heavy rain — not a landfalling tropical cyclone.

    There is no active Atlantic tropical cyclone threatening the U.S. mainland. The 2026 season has produced named tropical storms only; no hurricane has formed yet. The pulse today is convective: a Slight Risk of severe storms in the Dakotas, damaging-wind cells on the central Gulf Coast, and slow-moving heavy rain across Florida into coastal Georgia and South Carolina.

    National Weather Service CONUS radar mosaic showing current precipitation across the United States
    NWS CONUS radar mosaic. Public domain.

    These are the events that generate the restoration work crews actually see: wind-driven roof and siding failures, hail-pocked windows and vehicles, downed trees on service lines, and interior flooding from 2–3 inches in an hour on poorly drained streets. Conditions change fast. Verify with the National Weather Service for the specific county or ZIP before you roll.

    What is live this afternoon

    The Storm Prediction Center 2000 UTC Day 1 outlook holds a Slight Risk of severe thunderstorms across parts of central North Dakota and southeast South Dakota into northeast Nebraska. The headline threat is large hail. A tornado or two is possible in southeast South Dakota. Isolated damaging wind is possible across a broader Marginal Risk from the northern and central Plains into the upper Mississippi Valley. Locally damaging wind gusts remain possible over the central Gulf Coast states.

    No convective watches are in effect as of this writing. Warnings are local Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and Special Weather Statements, plus flood advisories where storms stall.

    Hotspot 1 — Northern Plains: North Dakota, South Dakota, eastern Montana

    A shortwave coming off the northern Rockies is the organizer. SPC expects widely scattered severe storms capable of mainly large hail over northwest into central North Dakota and southeast South Dakota this afternoon into evening. Forecast soundings east of a sharpening dryline in central ND support supercell modes. Large hail is the primary restoration exposure. Isolated tornado risk is highest in southeast South Dakota.

    Official Local Storm Reports already on the board today include 62 mph near Midland, South Dakota; 73 mph west-southwest of Fort Pierre; 59 mph near Forestgrove, Montana; and 63 mph near Winnett, Montana. Overnight and early-morning reports from eastern Montana included estimated 2-inch hail near Shepherd in Yellowstone County, with broken windows and siding damage from wind-driven hail.

    Recent Severe Thunderstorm Warnings from NWS Glasgow have covered Garfield, McCone, Prairie, and Petroleum counties in northeastern Montana for radar-indicated 60 mph gusts. Weather Prediction Center Day 1 also carries a Slight Risk of excessive rainfall for a portion of northwestern Montana.

    Restoration read: hail and wind first. Check roofs, skylights, west- and south-facing windows, and vehicle lots. Trees and service drops follow the 60-plus mph cores.

    Hotspot 2 — Central Gulf Coast: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida Panhandle, far southeast Texas

    Hot, very moist air with MLCAPE in the 2500–3500 J/kg range is supporting scattered afternoon and evening storms. Shear is weak, so this is not a supercell outbreak. The threat is intense downdrafts and slow storm motion. WPC added a Marginal Risk of excessive rainfall from far southeastern Texas into southwestern Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle. Rainfall rates of 2–3 inches in an hour are possible where cells stall near the Texas–Louisiana border.

    Active and recent Severe Thunderstorm Warnings this afternoon have included St. Helena, Livingston, Tangipahoa, and West/East Feliciana parishes in southeast Louisiana (near Hammond, Natalbany, Zachary, Slaughter) and south-central Alabama into northwest Florida (Escambia, Santa Rosa, Conecuh — Brewton, Flomaton, Evergreen, Pollard). Hazard language has been 60 mph gusts and penny-size hail.

    Yesterday’s LSRs already showed the damage type: trees and power lines down near Philadelphia and Greenville, Mississippi, including a microburst with building damage in the Greenville area.

    Restoration read: wind and water, not a hurricane surge. Urban flooding and tree-on-roof jobs in the same zip codes as the warning polygons.

    Hotspot 3 — Florida and the coastal Southeast

    Southeast Florida has been firing strong storms through Labor Day afternoon. NWS and local offices have carried a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for southeastern Martin County with radar-indicated 60 mph gusts and penny hail, plus a Flood Advisory in east-central Palm Beach County after 2–3 inches of rain. Steering is weak; cells can dump on the same neighborhoods twice.

    Northeast Florida into coastal Georgia and southern South Carolina sits under an above-average precipitable-water axis. NWS Jacksonville has been issuing Special Weather Statements for Baker, Columbia, Alachua, Suwannee, and adjacent Georgia counties with 40 mph gusts. WPC notes high neighborhood probabilities for 2- and 3-inch rainfall totals along that coastal moisture axis.

    Restoration read: interior water and urban flooding first, then wind to trees and fascia. Metro Broward/Miami-Dade and the I-10 / I-75 corridors in north Florida are the places to watch hour by hour.

    Pulse table

    RegionMain threatsSPC / WPC levelStatus this afternoon
    Central ND / SE SD / NE NELarge hail, damaging wind, isolated tornadoSlightDeveloping afternoon–evening
    Eastern MT / northern PlainsDamaging wind, hailMarginal + local SVR warningsActive
    Gulf Coast LA–AL–FL PanhandleDamaging wind, flash flood pulsesMarginal + local SVR warningsActive
    SE / NE Florida + coastal GA/SCHeavy rain, gusty wind, urban floodingLocal severe / flood advisoriesActive
    Atlantic tropics vs. U.S. coastNoneNo tropical cycloneQuiet

    What this is not

    This is not a regional derecho and not a hurricane landfall. No watches are up. The work, if it comes, will be scattered: a hail swath through a Dakota county, a microburst block in Louisiana or Alabama, a flooded intersection in Palm Beach or Jacksonville. That is the local-storm pattern restoration desks should staff for tonight.

    Sources and how to verify

    Primary sources: NOAA Storm Prediction Center Day 1 Convective Outlook issued 0259 PM CDT Monday, September 7, 2026; SPC today’s storm reports; Weather Prediction Center Day 1 Excessive Rainfall Outlook; National Hurricane Center Atlantic Tropical Weather Outlook (no tropical cyclone formation expected in the next 7 days); and active NWS warning text from Glasgow MT, New Orleans LA, Mobile AL, Jacksonville FL, and West Palm Beach-area offices.

    Check weather.gov for the county warning, spc.noaa.gov for the outlook and LSRs, and local radar before you treat any polygon as a job ticket. This desk will update when the evening reports close.