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News / Severe Weather

Expansive storm to threaten at least 18 states with severe weather this week

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

Published Apr 11, 2022 12:35 PM EDT | Updated Apr 12, 2022 3:48 PM EDT

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A major storm system is set to produce a widespread and dangerous severe weather outbreak across the nation’s midsection through the middle of the week. The storm is likely to impact tens of millions in nearly two dozen states from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes in the days leading up to Easter, AccuWeather meteorologists say.

Predictions made by AccuWeather as early as the middle of last week about a significant multi-day severe weather outbreak appeared to be on target as storms began to fire up on Sunday night and Monday across parts of the south-central region.

The unfolding severe weather outbreak will likely pose a significant threat to lives and property, and it could lead to disruptions in travel and shipping over the central United States. People living in or traveling through the region should closely monitor forecasts and stay alert for the latest severe weather watches, warnings and advisories, forecasters say.

The storms will hit some of the same areas that have been hammered by tornadoes and high winds on a weekly basis over the past month and will visit some Midwestern areas that have not yet experienced violent thunderstorms this spring. The threat of severe weather will extend along a 1,000-mile-long zone from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and is forecast to reach its peak by the middle of this week.

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Severe storms will target some of the same areas each day through Wednesday and raise the risk of flooding as they unload frequent rounds of heavy downpours. Arkansas and Missouri are two states that could be hit particularly hard, AccuWeather forecasters say.

Severe weather began impacting Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri on Monday night as tornadoes, hail and gusty winds were all reported.

Another explosion of severe weather is anticipated into Tuesday night from eastern Texas and much of Louisiana, northward to southeastern South Dakota, southern Minnesota and southwestern Wisconsin.

Violent thunderstorms are most likely to develop over two parts of the Central states into Tuesday night.

"One area where thunderstorms are likely to focus will be over the central Plains, in conjunction with the main storm system set to emerge from the Rockies, while a second contracted area of thunderstorms will focus across the southern Plains, in association with wind energy from the jet stream," AccuWeather Meteorologist Andrew Johnson-Levine said.

The northern higher-risk zone will include western and central Iowa, southeastern Nebraska, southern Minnesota, northeastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri. The southern primary threat area will include northeastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma as well as parts of southwestern Arkansas and northwestern Louisiana.

"The two pockets [of land] may represent where the most violent thunderstorms and multiple tornadoes are likely, including the potential for several strong and long-lived tornadoes," Johnson-Levine said. The greatest risk of multiple strong tornadoes may be centered on Iowa for this outbreak. Severe weather may be less concentrated, but still impactful, in between and surrounding these two areas.

This image shows the multi-tiered threat of severe weather for Tuesday and Tuesday according to the Storm Prediction Center. The lowest tier (green) is a marginal threat, while a moderate risk (red) exists in Iowa.

The threat of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes may continue through much of the nighttime hours on Tuesday, which will pose an added danger as people in the path of the storms may not be able to see an approaching funnel cloud.

On Wednesday, the expansive zone of severe thunderstorms will begin to push eastward and extend from northeastern Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas to Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota and southern Michigan.

"Tornadoes will remain a high concern on Wednesday and Wednesday evening with the continued potential for tornadoes to be strong and on the ground for an extended period of time," Johnson-Levine said.

All facets of severe weather will be possible on Tuesday and Wednesday. Outside of communities that may take a direct hit by a tornado, AccuWeather Local StormMax™ wind gusts can approach 80 mph on Tuesday and 90 mph on Wednesday and can easily knock down trees and lead to power outages and minor property damage. Hail reaching the size of golf balls and perhaps even baseballs is possible with this setup. An inch or two of rain can fall in an hour's time in a few cases, which can turn streets and low-lying rural roads into raging torrents of water.

The risk of severe weather is likely to be substantially lower with the storm system on Thursday as colder, drier air will cut off the moisture supply to thunderstorms over the Central states. However, a pocket of severe weather may continue along the storm's cold front as it approaches the Southeast region and perhaps parts of the Northeast.

For airline passengers with travel plans this week, the most likely day for direct delays due to severe thunderstorms will be Tuesday. Air travelers in cities such as Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Missouri, and Des Moines, Iowa, could experience the greatest number of flight delays or cancellations.

On Wednesday, the bulk of the severe weather is likely to affect the hubs of Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville and New Orleans. However, ripple-effect delays and flight changes are possible across the nation where some crews and aircraft may become displaced by the storms. Due to the volatility of the atmosphere in the Central states, some flights could be subject to a significant amount of turbulence.

The severe thunderstorms and tornadoes will be unleashed by the same massive storm system that will bring feet of snow and blizzard conditions to parts of the Rockies and northern Plains as well as high winds and extreme wildfire danger to parts of the Southwest and southern High Plains.

More to read:

Poll: 33% of Americans experienced extreme weather in last 2 years
Father and daughter who survived being struck by lightning speak out
How one pioneer earned the nickname 'Mr. Tornado'

For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.

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