Travel and RV Weather Extended Outlook through Sunday 14 May

  • No big storms, but lots of moisture and instability will lead to heavy showers and thunderstorms across much of the Western Plains and Central U.S.
  • Most significant severe weather threat this period will be Thursday, from western Nebraska to the Texas Panhandle.
  • Snow in the Colorado Rockies Thursday and Friday: Heads up I-70.

Extended outlooks are more general in nature and higher level than the daily short term forecasts. Beyond a week, there is often significant uncertainty in the location and intensity of specific weather events. I will note where there is less, or greater, confidence than normal in these extended outlooks.


Starting Monday morning, 27 November, this site will be down for a major upgrade. RVWeather.com will return no later than Wednesday 29 November — sooner if possible. When the site returns, WILMA, our NEW(!) integrated weather impacts product, will be available. The Paywall will also be implemented. RV Weather will continue to provide free access to essential, RV-relevant National Weather Service Warnings and Advisories, current weather, and weather safety information. While the main site is off-line, I will post a simple forecast to my email list and to RVWeather on Facebook.


Click here for animations of the coming week’s weather, updated daily.



From the RV Weather Summer Office in Moose Wyoming

Big Picture for the coming week and next weekend:

  • No big storms, but lots of moisture and instability will lead to heavy showers and thunderstorms across much of the Western Plains and Central U.S.
  • Texas in particular will see a lot of rain.
  • Most significant severe weather threat this period will be Thursday, from western Nebraska to the Texas Panhandle.
  • Snow in the Colorado Rockies Thursday and Friday: Heads up I-70.

Temperature and Precipitation Outlook:

  • Warmer than normal in the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies.
  • Warmer than normal for most of the U.S. east of the Rockies, except for Texas.
  • Cooler than normal in the Great Basin, Southwest, and western and southern Texas.
  • Wetter than normal over the western and northern Plains.
  • Much wetter than normal over most of Texas and New Mexico.
  • Somewhat wetter than normal over the Midwest, Mid-south, and lower Mississippi Valley.
  • Drier than normal over California and the Great Basin.
  • Drier than normal over the Northeast.
  • Slightly drier than normal over the Southeast, and central and southern Florida Peninsula.

Highlights by day (9 – 14 May):

  1. Tuesday:
    • Snow for east-central Oregon, central Idaho.
    • Heavy rain for southeast Texas.
    • Slight risk of severe thunderstorms over Oklahoma and Kansas.
  2. Wednesday:
    • Strong winds over the Four-Corners States.
    • Heavy rain for the Western, Central and Southern Plains.
    • Heavy rain for east Texas.
    • Severe thunderstorms possible over the Great Plains.
  3. Thursday:
    • Snow for the Colorado Rockies.
    • Heavy rain for Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas, east of the Rockies.
    • Risk of severe thunderstorms over western Nebraska, western Kansas, western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle.
  4. Friday:
    • Snow for the Colorado Rockies.
    • Heavy rain for western and central Texas.
  5. Saturday:
    • Heavy rain for Texas.
  6. Sunday:
    • Strong winds over southern New Mexico.
    • Heavy rain for Texas, much of Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico,

More Highlights (from the National Weather Service):

  • NWS Highlights will return on Tuesday. Click here for the latest National Weather Service 3-7 Day outlook

Outlook for the latter part of May and into early June (a 2-4 week outlook is by definition low confidence!):

  • Through the third week of May:
    • Drier than normal for the Western, Northern, and Central Plains.
    • Wetter than normal for New Mexico, the Southeast and Florida.
    • Warmer than normal in the West, the northern and central Rockies, and the Northern and Central Plains
      • These temperatures could set up significant flooding issues from snowmelt.
    • Cooler than normal over most of New Mexico and Texas, the Southern Plains, Midwest, Mid-South, and the lower Mississippi Valley.
  • By the end of May:
    • Cooler than normal over eastern Texas, the Mid-South and the Southeast.
  • Through the first week of June:
    • Temperatures at or below average for the continental U.S.
Total snowfall accumulation through Sunday 14 May
Total precipitation amounts through Sunday 14 May
Expected precipitation amounts as a percentage of normal through Sunday 14 May
Averaged temperature departures from normal through Sunday 14 May

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