Weather

Seasonal warmth, rainfall for much of the Heartland

A cold front interacting with a warm, humid airmass will continue to produce scattered to widespread showers and thunderstorms across the lower Southeast.

Five-day rainfall totals could exceed 5 inches in parts of northern Florida. Later in the week, locally heavy showers will develop from the southern Rockies into the western Corn Belt. In the latter region, as much as 1 to 3 inches of rain may fall. Widely scattered showers will occur in other parts of the central and eastern U.S., but dry weather will prevail during the next 5 days west of the Rockies.

Following a few days of cooler weather in most areas east of the Rockies, heat will expand northward during the weekend. Elsewhere, hot weather will persist across the interior West.

Looking ahead, the 6- to 10-day outlook calls for near- or above-normal temperatures nationwide, except for cooler-than-normal conditions in along the Canadian border in Montana and North Dakota.

Meanwhile, near- or above-normal rainfall in the East, North, and Far West will contrast with drier-than-normal weather across large sections of the Rockies and High Plains.