‘Ring of fire’ thunderstorms to ride rim massive heat dome this week

A swath of thunderstorms, sometimes thousands of miles long, often goes along with huge heat domes across the United States during the summer. The weather pattern this week will be no exception, AccuWeather meteorologists say.

Because the air in much of the heat dome is warm through most layers of the atmosphere, clouds have difficulty forming, let alone thunderstorms. However, on the edges of the heat, especially along the northern and western flanks thereof, the air is cooler well above the ground, which makes it easier for clouds to tower and produce thunderstorms.

The pattern is referred to in the weather community as a “ring of fire,” as thunderstorms tend to form along the edges of the heat dome. Within this ring, there can be spotty, individual thunderstorms, large clusters of thunderstorms or a solid line of storms that can repeat or meander back and forth as hot and cool air change hands.

During the afternoon and evening, when thunderstorms tend to be most active, towering clouds, downpours, thunder and lightning will extend from north-central Mexico to southeastern Canada and New England, an arc about 2,200 miles long.

If a location is within the thunder zone one day, it could remain in the same zone all week or possibly catch a break one day, only to be stormy the next consecutive days. Where the storms repeat, there will be a heightened risk of flash flooding. Any thunderstorm in the highlighted zones can pulse to severe intensity with high winds, frequent lightning strikes, hail and perhaps a brief tornado.

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A swath of thunderstorms, some locally severe, will extend from northeastern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle to northern Michigan into Monday night.

Much of the Northeast will catch one of those breaks from thunderstorm activity into Monday night but not so for Tuesday as the thunder regime resumes.

More storms will target hard-hit areas of central and eastern upstate New York, as well as northern New England, western New York, northwestern Pennsylvania, northern Ohio, northern Indiana, southern Michigan and vast populated areas of southeastern Ontario and southern Quebec.

Tuesday will be another active day in terms of severe weather for the Plains states as well. Most of the severe thunderstorms will focus from the eastern halves of Colorado and Wyoming to northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

More storms will erupt in both the Plains and Northeast states at midweek. Some severe thunderstorm activity will extend from the High Plains of Colorado, Wyoming and Montana to southern Michigan, northern Indiana and northern Ohio.

The severe weather threat will extend into the Northeast on the northern fringe of the heat dome as well on Wednesday. Picking up from northern Ohio and southern Michigan, the threat of locally severe thunderstorms will extend eastward through central and northern Pennsylvania and the southern tier of New York to northern New Jersey and southern New England.

Locally severe thunderstorms will continue in parts of the Midwest on Thursday. Pockets of severe weather are likely to continue over the Plains, Midwest and the Northeast until the heat dome breaks down.

As the heat dome collapses, there will be the potential for a large zone of thunderstorms that progresses from east to west or from north to south late in the week and over the weekend. Some of that thunderstorm activity is likely to be severe as is often the case, as a heat wave breaks down.

There will be thunderstorm activity on the southern edge of the heat dome as well.

The trade winds will be enhanced by the east-to-west breeze created by the high pressure area, associated with the heat dome, especially over the Florida Peninsula. While this pattern is often present during the summer, thunderstorms can be a bit stronger given that they are on the edge of the heat dome.

Most of the thunderstorms will tend to erupt just inland of the Florida Atlantic beaches and push westward across the Peninsula as the day progresses. By the time they reach the Gulf coast, they can be locally severe.

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