,The first storm system of 2022 is on its way to our area, and it will likely push strong thunderstorms across our state throughout the day on Sunday.

On Saturday, several surface lows dotted the Rocky Mountain West where higher in the atmosphere, a strong trough of low pressure was already present. Hazardous conditions- heavy snow in the Upper Plains and torrential rain in the mid-Mississippi Valley- stretched across the country. The system is expected to continue propagating eastward Saturday night and Sunday, and a line of strong thunderstorms should develop as upper level energy collides with warm and humid atmosphere over the Southeastern United States.

A squall line of thunderstorms should track from the Tennessee and Lower Mississippi valleys into the the western Florida Panhandle on Sunday morning. This line is expected to move eastward, pushing toward Tallahassee and the Forgotten Coast by the afternoon. It is from this time onward that thunderstorms within the squall line could intensify and have the greatest potential of producing damaging straight-line winds and isolated tornadoes. Sunday night, thunderstorms should push into the Big Bend and North Florida, likely reaching the I-4 corridor early on Monday.

The line should have substantially weakened by Monday morning, when it is projected to be near Central and South Florida. Even so, a few gusty thunderstorms are possible in that region, and the potential for damaging wind gusts south of I-4 cannot be ruled out on Monday.

Temperatures are expected to plunge over parts of the Sunshine State in the wake of the storm line. By Monday afternoon, highs in the Panhandle and North Florida are expected to be 20 to 30 degrees colder than Sunday afternoon. The chill should be short lived for the region, with highs returning to more seasonable levels by the middle of the week.