Heat builds across the Plains

Heat builds across the Plains today, while the Southeast stays soggy. We are also keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Erin. These details, along with our daily tropical outlook, are published every weekday at 5 a.m. ET.

The WeatherRadar shows showers and storms continuing across the Southeast today. After days of rain, localized flooding remains a concern, especially across the southern Appalachians. Cities like Baton Rouge, La., Jackson, Miss., Birmingham, Ala., Atlanta, Columbia, S.C., and Charlotte, N.C., will see scattered storms this afternoon.

Heat will build across the Plains, and a few strong storms may fire up in eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota. Large hail, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes are possible this afternoon and evening in Grand Forks and Fargo, N.D., and Bemidji, Minn.

The TemperatureRadar shows highs surging into the 90s across portions of the Rockies and into the central and northern Plains. Denver will reach the upper 90s, while Billings, Mont., and Bismarck, N.D. will reach the mid-90s. The heat also sticks around across Texas and the Desert Southwest.

We continue to monitor Tropical Storm Erin as it moves west at 17 mph, with sustained winds of 60 mph. The storm will move closer to the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico by the weekend. However, the magnitude of the impacts these areas may feel is still unknown. Erin is expected to become the first hurricane of the season by Friday.

We are also monitoring a low in the Bay of Campeche, which has a medium chance of development as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico. A tropical depression may form on Friday.

Atlantic Hurricane Season starts to ramp up in August and September. Learn more about how our hurricane alerts work here.