Damaging storms to roar across Midwest through midweek
Rounds of severe thunderstorms, some packing tornadoes, will push eastward across the Midwest into Wednesday evening. Some areas may be hit by more than one severe thunderstorm.
Extreme meteorologist Dr. Reed Timmer and the Dominator crew got an incredible view of a tornado tearing across the Iowa landscape on April 16.
The same storm system responsible for several dozen incidents of severe weather, including a few tornadoes, over the Great Plains and the Midwest into Tuesday night will pivot into the eastern Midwest through Wednesday evening. The storms will threaten major population centers and blast across some heavily traveled highways, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
Severe thunderstorms traveled across the Midwest on Tuesday, bringing numerous reports of damaging winds, hail and even tornadoes from eastern Kansas to Wisconsin and Illinois.
All modes of severe weather are possible again on Wednesday, ranging from powerful wind gusts and large hail to tornadoes.
Roughly 35 million people will be at risk Wednesday. Motorists and those spending time outdoors are urged to closely monitor their surroundings and keep alert for rapidly changing weather conditions.
The greatest flash flooding risk is likely Wednesday as storms enter a zone farther to the east in the Midwest, where heavy rain has occurred recently.
The risk of severe weather, including the possibility of a couple of tornadoes, will continue to progress eastward through the lower Great Lakes region, as well as the Ohio Valley and part of the Tennessee Valley Wednesday.
Cities such as Detroit; Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Indiana; Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky; Charleston and Huntington, West Virginia; and Pittsburgh can be affected by thunderstorms all day Wednesday, with severe weather most likely during the afternoon or evening. Storms that roll through southeastern Michigan and northern and central Ohio may be the most potent of the activity on Wednesday.
The storm risk is likely to be a singular event in much of Tennessee that takes up only a small part of the day.
As the risk of severe weather ends over the Midwest from west to east Wednesday to Thursday, the next storm system will bring a new push of warm and moist air over portions of the southern and central Plains.
Thunderstorms can develop across northeastern Kansas late Wednesday night before pushing eastward into Missouri before dawn on Thursday. The main threat with these storms will be large hail.
By Thursday, the risk of severe weather with storms packing hail, strong wind gusts and torrential downpours will increase from northeastern Texas to southeastern Kansas, Missouri and the southern parts of Illinois and Indiana.
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