The month of March (and 2012 in general) has already seen an abundance of severe weather--sometimes rather unexpectedly and/or in unusual places (see Wednesday's tornado event in southeast Michigan). So far, the Great Plains has yet to experience a more classic severe weather event this year, but that appears set to change starting tomorrow, as a large, powerful storm system will sweep into the region. Southerly flow throughout the past week has allowed an unseasonably moisture-rich airmass to become established across most of the central U.S. Meanwhile, forecast models have continued to show a strong mid/upper-level trough digging into the western Plains beginning tomorrow afternoon. As this western trough crashes into the high Plains tomorrow--and moreover, if the atmosphere can "recover" enough in the wake of convective activity earlier in the day--the potential would exist for a somewhat widespread severe weather event along a dryline extending roughly from the Goodland, Kansas area south into the southern Texas panhandle and western Oklahoma. As the storm system advances east, the potential for severe weather will exist for central and eastern Oklahoma, northern and central Texas, and parts of Arkansas on Monday into Tuesday; heavy rains will also be of particular concern for these areas, with some models predicting precip totals in excess of 5" of rain for some areas where the ground is already quite saturated from a wet Winter/early Spring.

TVN will be chasing throughout the event. You can follow along with updates and video blogs from Reed through his Facebook and Twitter feeds.