Yet again, today's severe weather and overall thunderstorm risk will be centralized over the Plains from Iowa to Oklahoma. This area will have the chance of large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes, much like what happened in Kansas on Wednesday. There is a minimal threat of strong thunderstorms in Illinois and Wisconsin -- mostly confined to this morning's thunderstorm activity. However, once we push into the afternoon hours the threat for thunderstorms will be significantly lower as we lose our main forcing mechanism (an MCV, or mesoscale convective vortex, is providing the lift and forcing this morning).
There is no lack of moisture across the region for any thunderstorms to feed off of with dew points in the lower and middle 60s this morning. That is considered humid. That is also why we saw heavy rain with this morning's storms. The more moisture that is available to squeeze out of the atmosphere (aka, higher dew points), the heavier the rainfall will be. Once we head into the afternoon and these numbers get a chance to recover, we will be seeing middle and even upper 60s, which will make it feel very humid. Thankfully we won't be dealing with numbers in the 70s, which is considered oppressive.
Here's a look at the different levels of humidity in relation to the dew point temperature. Of late we have see dew points in the 50s and lower 60s, which is comfortable to slightly humid. In the winter and fall months, you typically see dew points in the 40s, if not lower. Those values are considered comfortable to very dry (why you see chapped and dry skin in the winter!). Today through Memorial Day Weekend -- if not longer -- will feature dew points in the 60s to possibly near 70! That will make it feel very humid outside for the next week or so. So don't forget to stay hydrated if you are planning any outdoor activities this holiday weekend!
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