Severe storms to batter central US repeatedly into the weekend

The unrelenting rounds of severe weather that have ripped across the central United States this past week show no sign of letting up through Saturday.

Since Monday, over 50 tornadoes have been reported from Wyoming to Wisconsin along with hundreds of damaging wind and large hail reports.

More hail and damaging wind occurred across Kansas on Thursday afternoon as violent storms erupted over the state. Winds gusted over 70 mph in some cases, leading to damage in places like Wichita.

Another round of damaging storms hit the region on Friday afternoon with over 60,000 electric customers being without power in Nebraska. Many of these outages were reported around the Omaha area where winds gusted past 80 mph.

As more severe weather targets the Central states into the weekend, these numbers will continue to climb as additional communities, lives and property are threatened.

Surging heat will help to initiate the storms. In parts of the Plains and middle Mississippi Valley, temperatures can spike well into the 90s F and perhaps close to 100 in some locations.

“Dangerous lightning, damaging winds, large hail and flooding rain are all risks with the most powerful storms in the Plains and Midwest,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Michael Doll said.

“Some areas could face power outages due to downed trees on power lines.”

The threat for tornadoes is significantly lower than previous days this week, but not zero. It takes only one tornado to devastate lives and a community.

Through Friday night, eastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri will rocked by an intense line of thunderstorms plowing southward.

During the first part of Father’s Day weekend, the threat for severe thunderstorms will expand eastward into much of Illinois, northwestern Indiana and the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

There will be an enhanced risk of storms with high winds in this zone.

Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City and St. Louis will be threatened by the vigorous line of thunderstorms during Saturday evening and night.

Latest indications show that the first games of the 2017 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, may be spared by the violent weather on Saturday afternoon and evening. However, fans and players should be prepared to take cover if thunder is heard or lightning is seen.

Motorists will need to be prepared to slow down and turn on their headlights when a violent thunderstorm crosses secondary roads or interstates. Airline passengers could also face delays.

The north-central U.S. may get a significant break from stormy weather during the second half of the weekend into early next week, which will benefit those needing to begin cleanup efforts.

However, the severe weather threat will shift to the zone from the eastern Great Lakes and the central Appalachians to the Ohio and Tennessee valleys on Father's Day.

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