Powerful storms to put millions at risk from Great Lakes to Gulf Coast
Severe thunderstorms that erupted in the Plains on Wednesday will move eastward on Thursday, rumbling from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast.
AccuWeather’s Tony Laubach was live from Salina, Kansas, on the AccuWeather Network on Oct. 30 to talk about the potential for severe weather in the region.
Severe thunderstorms can last into Thursday in the Midwest, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
A powerful cold front will collide with moisture surging northward from the Gulf of Mexico and summerlike warmth to ignite the thunderstorms.
"We haven't had a front like this come in quite some time. The region could use the rain, but it will come at the price of severe weather," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.
Residents are advised to keep their cellphones fully charged and turned on, with severe weather alerts enabled on the AccuWeather app for their location.
Tornadoes typically have the lowest death toll from natural disasters, but at night, tornadoes are far more deadly than they are by day.
"The line of thunderstorms is expected to expand in size as we move into early Thursday morning," Rayno said. By then, the primary hazards will include damaging wind gusts and sudden downpours. Isolated tornadoes may still develop within this line during the early morning. Residents in St. Louis, Dallas and Little Rock, Arkansas, could get a rude awakening from Mother Nature with rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning early on All Hallows' Eve.
Thunderstorms may remain locally severe and damaging as they move eastward with the cold front across the Ohio, Tennessee and lower Mississippi valleys on Halloween. Behind this front, more opportunities for rain and thunderstorms are expected across the Plains states, which can go a long way in helping to ease the drought.
Behind the front, rain changing to a burst of heavy snow can occur from central Minnesota to northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan Thursday into Thursday evening. AccuWeather meteorologists say the greatest likelihood for slippery travel will be to the north of Minneapolis, but a slushy accumulation cannot be ruled out should snow fall heavily in the city.
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