The first week of September was relatively quiet across most of the eastern and central parts of the United States in terms of storm systems. That quiet has lately been shattered as a cold front crept its way across from the Central Plains to the East Coast.

The front was previously draped across Kansas all the way to the western Great Lakes and was responsible for the frequent storms that produced wind and hail across parts of the upper Midwest. These storms later merged into a mass of heavy rain storms that drifted over towards Missouri.

The storms prompted several flash flood warnings, which meant that there was a potential risk of severe storms to be expected. The storms that later developed initially posed a threat of damaging winds, but quickly turned into flood warnings due to high moisture content held within the atmosphere.

The water values expected were well over two inches across the Mississippi Valley. The storm system was sucking all its moisture up from the Gulf of Mexico. Southern Iowa and northern Missouri were in the spot to receive multiple rounds of heavy rainfall and storms.

Storms later redeveloped across Nebraska and northern Kansas and they started to move east. Northern Illinois and Northern Kansas were in for a very wet couple of days.

The colourful image above depicts the total rainfall amounts through the first week of September. Take note of the bullseye over Missouri.

The rain did, however, provide much needed relief from the heat and drought in Texas. The front of the storm headed east, bringing rain to the entire eastern part of the country.

Cities like Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston are yet to see more than a trickle of rain. This rain, along with a decrease in humidity, may come as a very welcome relief.