Severe Storm Outlook Narrative (AC)
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
803 ACUS03 KWNS 011856 SWODY3 SPC AC 011855 Day 3 Convective Outlook NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 0155 PM CDT Thu Oct 01 2026 Valid 031200Z - 041200Z ...NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AREAS FORECAST... ...SUMMARY... No severe thunderstorms are expected across the U.S. on Saturday and Saturday night. ...Discussion... A polar branch short-wave trough is forecast to amplify while progressing from the northern Plains into the Great Lakes. At the surface, an associated cold front will advance through the northern Plains and upper Midwest with a pocket of cool mid-level temperatures (e.g., -14 to -18 C at 500 mb) and resultant steepening of mid-level lapse rates contributing to widely scattered thunderstorms, a few of which could contain small hail. Elsewhere, another boundary will settle slowly south into the Carolinas and western and central Gulf Coast states. A moist and at least marginally unstable air mass will exist to the south of that feature with thunderstorms possible from portions of the southern Plains into the Carolinas and Southeast. Weak vertical shear is forecast across the warm sector, which, coupled with weak mid-level lapse rates and forcing for ascent, is expected to limit severe weather potential. ..Mead.. 10/01/2026 $$