Storms bringing rain, mountain snow and colder air to parts of the United States

CNN
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A number of storms are set to move across the United States this week, and some of them could help bring much-needed relief to areas experiencing drought.

Ongoing storms across the Southern Plains — a region made up of Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas — are expected to shift north during the day on Monday, bringing widespread rainfall across the Midwest and Central Plains.

A tornado watch has been issued for parts of west and central Oklahoma and parts of north Texas until 10 p.m. 10:00 Monday. Over 2 million people are under this tornado watch, including Oklahoma City residents.

There have been well over 1,700 tornado reports this year, well above the year-to-date average of 1,274.

The National Weather Service has also issued flood watches across parts of Texas and Oklahoma throughout the day Monday and into Louisiana beginning Monday evening.

Rainfall of 1 to 4 inches is expected across the Plains, while the New Orleans area could see 3 to 5 inches with isolated chances for totals over 5 inches.

Cities including Oklahoma City experienced one of their driest Octobers on record. However, in a climate with more extreme weather events, November has become one of the wettest on record for the city.

Nearly 7 inches of precipitation has been recorded in Oklahoma City this month, making it the fourth wettest November on record with 12 more days until December.

While cities including Atlanta and Memphis could see precipitation by midweek, cities across the Northeast, including New York, Washington, Philadelphia and Boston, will have to wait until the end of the week for their chance at precipitation.

Many of these cities are coming off some of their driest Octobers and are in desperate need of rain.

And in the West

A separate series of storms is also set to affect the West, bringing rounds of valley rain and heavy mountain snowfall.

Winter weather advisories are in place for seven western states — Washington, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico — while up to a foot of snow is expected across the Cascades and northern Rockies.

The strongest storm over the West begins on Tuesday, with heavy rainfall and snowfall in the mountains expected. Snowfall could reach 2 to 3 feet in parts of the Cascades between Tuesday and Wednesday.

Parts of Oregon, Washington and northern California will also experience heavy rainfall at lower elevations. From Tuesday night into Saturday, those states could see 6 to 14 inches of rain, with isolated totals around the King Range potentially reaching 21 inches.

These rains can cause rivers to rise rapidly and can also cause floods and mudslides.