Wet weather continues in southern United States
Nearly the entire southern United States will experience a prolonged period of wet weather, with areas from New Mexico to the Carolinas expected to experience rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms over the next few days.
Nearly the entire southern United States is facing a prolonged spell of wet weather, with cities like New Orleans and Atlanta likely to see record highs as a stalled cold front will trigger rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms from the Southwest to parts of the country. Enter the mid-Atlantic.
The South is no stranger to afternoon thunderstorms during the summer. However, the coming precipitation will be notable even for them, as cities brace for what could be their longest stretch of wet weather in decades.
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Severe weather and flooding threats kick in Thursday
WATCH: FOX Exclusive Model Futuretrack Shows Prolonged Wet Weather in Southland
Fox's exclusive future track model shows a prolonged period of wet weather across the South, with rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms expected.
The Fox Forecast Center said the initial culprit for the heavy rain will be a cold front that begins sweeping across the southern United States on Thursday.
This will be the focus of potential severe weather and flash flooding in parts of the mid-Atlantic as well as the Southern Plains and lower Mississippi River.
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Nearly 5 million people in northeastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia are under a Level 2 threat out of 5 on the Storm Prediction Center's (SPC) 5-point severe thunderstorm risk scale.
Cities such as Virginia Beach and Norfolk, Virginia, and Raleigh, North Carolina, may experience thunderstorms that produce frequent lightning, damaging wind gusts and large hail.
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Heavy rain may cause flooding problems.
“Thunderstorms will bring heavy rainfall today,” the National Weather Service office in Newport-Morehead City said. “Some storms could drop more than 2 inches of rain per hour, which could lead to flash flooding.”
The flood watch covers southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.
The Fox Forecast Center said the likelihood of a tornado is expected to be low, although a rapid spin is not impossible.
Rinse and repeat this pattern over the next few days
But in addition to the threat of severe weather in North Carolina, several states are also at risk of flash flooding as the cold front extends southward. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Prediction Center (WPC) on Thursday classified flood risk as Level 2 (out of 4) for parts of the mid-Atlantic, Southern Plains and lower Mississippi Valley.
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The cold front will continue to move across the region over the next few days, while the circulation surrounding an ongoing upper-air disturbance over the central United States will continue to draw moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.
This will trigger rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms, potentially creating additional risk of flash flooding over the coming days. Through the weekend, widespread rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches are possible across the South.
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Several cities in the region could see record-breaking wet weather as the rains continue.
For example, New Orleans has recorded rain over the past two days and is expected to rain over the next two weeks.
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If that happens, it will tie their record of 16 consecutive days of rain.
Atlanta could also set a record.
Rain is forecast for Atlanta over the next two weeks, which if confirmed would break Atlanta's record for consecutive days of rain.
The current record is 14 days, set in July 1994 and July 1916.
Pensacola, Florida, and Birmingham, Alabama, could also break records if rain falls every day over the next two weeks.
