Howling winds to raise risk of wildfires, property damage and power outages over Great Plains
As a storm system strengthens, a zone of potentially damaging winds will encompass at least half a million square miles over the central United States into Tuesday evening. As winds increase, so will the wildfire danger.
Several areas of the country could endure weather-related travel delays on April 16.
While stiff southerly breezes will help fuel severe thunderstorms in parts of the central United States, it is the powerful winds that occur in the wake of the severe weather and the drier air well to the west that will roar in more than a dozen states into Tuesday night, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
"The same storm system poised to trigger severe thunderstorms and tornadoes over the central United States will also trigger winds strong enough to damage property, down power lines and raise the risk of rapidly spreading wildfires over the Plains states into Tuesday night," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.
Winds howled from parts of Arizona and Texas, much of New Mexico, and as far north as portions of Montana, South Dakota and Minnesota into Monday night.
Into Tuesday night, the zone of strong winds will expand farther to the east and northeast and may approach 750,000 (three-quarters of a million) square miles. So, while the major airport hubs of Denver and Kansas City, Missouri, will be affected, the risk of wind-related airline delays will also extend to Minneapolis and Chicago into Tuesday evening.
The strong wind gusts ranging from 40-60 mph will extend 1,100 miles from near Interstate 25 to northern Michigan into Tuesday evening. However, unlike much of Monday over the high wind zone, winds will blow from different directions as the storm system itself strengthens and broadens.
Along I-25 on Tuesday, winds will blow mainly from the north and may pose less of a vehicle rollover threat along the highway despite 60-80 mph gusts in part of this zone. Farther to the east, winds over parts of the northern Plains and the Upper Midwest will howl from the east and northeast. Farther to the southeast, winds over the southern Plains to the middle Mississippi Valley will generally blow from the southwest and west.
Where rain does not fall from thunderstorms erupting over the Central states, the combination of dry brush and powerful winds can quickly turn sparks fueled by downed power lines and open flames from barbeques, construction and agricultural work into fast-spreading wildfires.
Where the soil remains dry and fields have recently been plowed and begun to dry, high winds can pick up dust and transport it up to hundreds of miles to the east and northeast.
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