Rounds of storms to bring daily dose of severe weather through Easter Sunday
Multiple rounds of thunderstorms will rattle vast areas of the United States into Easter Sunday, but some packing large hail, high winds and tornadoes will pose a significant risk to lives and property.
Strong thunderstorms roared up the East Coast on April 15, with pouring hail, powerful winds and pulsing lightning.
As one storm system after another rolls across the country, thunderstorms will be on the prowl on a daily basis, with some locations being subject to severe weather for multiple days in a row through the Easter weekend, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
Not all of the thunderstorm rounds through Easter Sunday will be equal. Some will be dangerous and highly damaging, while others may be more of an inconvenience.
Storms to pack a wallop beginning later Thursday
More organized, more potent thunderstorms are forecast to ramp up starting Thursday, with subsequent rounds of severe weather right through Sunday, mainly focused on the central United States.
From later Thursday to Thursday night, a zone of severe thunderstorms will be centered on Iowa, with the greatest threat likely to be from large hail.
Hail to the size of golf balls and baseballs is possible, which can cause extreme property damage.
On Friday and Saturday, the severe weather threat will become more elongated and stretch for 1,000 miles or more each day from central Texas to parts of Ohio and even as far north as Michigan and as far east as West Virginia.
All modes of severe weather will be possible Friday and Saturday in this extensive zone. The threats will range from large hail and flash urban flooding to damaging wind gusts and tornadoes.
Flood risk to ramp up as storms repeat
Because some locations will be subject to severe thunderstorms and torrential downpours over multiple days, the risk of flash flooding of small streams will increase with each round.
The cumulative rainfall will cause rises on some rivers that avoided flooding earlier in April and could bring a secondary rise along rivers that recently experienced high water. Fortunately, the most persistent rain will generally remain northwest of the hardest-hit areas from more than a week ago.
A general 2-4 inches of rain is forecast over several days from central Texas to southern and central Illinois. Within this zone, there can be pockets of 4-8 inches of rain.
In comparison, the rainfall over four days in early April over the Ohio and middle Mississippi valleys was 8-16 inches with locally higher amounts--generally double what is expected to fall over the extended Easter holiday weekend.
Dangerous storm risk on Easter Sunday
The risk of severe weather will continue through Easter Sunday in the central U.S.
On this most sacred day of the year to millions of Christians, the most dangerous storms will focus from central Texas and northwestern Louisiana through eastern Kansas, Missouri and part of western Illinois.
The bulk of the storms are forecast to hold off until after morning and midday church services. However, as friends and family gather during the afternoon hours and some head home from their weekend ventures in the evening, the storms will reach their peak.
The most intense storms later Sunday will pack damaging hail, powerful wind gusts and tornadoes. The severe weather threat is likely to continue past sunset, which will add to the danger for people heading home or sound asleep after a busy weekend full of activities.
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