A potent storm is set to follow a weekend of severe weather across the central United States, with meteorologists at AccuWeather warning of the potential for multiple powerful tornadoes by midweek. This storm, moving slower than recent systems, could bring several days of severe weather and flooding to the same regions. An earlier storm that swept through the central and eastern U.S. from Friday to Monday resulted in around 450 severe weather incidents, including high wind gusts up to 96 mph, large hail, and numerous tornadoes.
This week, a stronger storm will take aim at the central U.S., lingering as it traverses the region. The severity of this week’s weather is expected to surpass that of the previous weekend. The forecast calls for a high level of severe weather, with widespread dangerous thunderstorms anticipated.
Severe weather is expected to return to the Plains states by late Tuesday as the atmosphere readies itself following a cool air influx earlier in the week. Strong winds from the approaching storm system will enhance the intensity of thunderstorms, particularly over the southern and central Plains starting late Tuesday.
The primary threats from late Tuesday through Tuesday night will be powerful wind gusts and hail, with a possibility of brief tornadoes in the strongest thunderstorms. Areas at risk include central Nebraska, Iowa, western Iowa, and parts of central Texas.
Elevated winds from the storm system will also heighten the risk of wildfires across the southern and central High Plains, where dry conditions persist.
Severe weather is forecast to peak on Wednesday, with a potential swarm of tornadoes. A convergence of factors, including heat, moisture surge, and a strong jet stream, will fuel severe weather over the middle Mississippi Valley. This day may pose the most significant threat of the week, with conditions ripe for high winds, large hail, flash flooding, and tornadoes from central Texas to southeastern Wisconsin and parts of Michigan.
All types of severe weather are possible on Wednesday, with the risk extending from high winds and large hail to flash flooding and tornadoes. A high-risk zone for severe thunderstorms will center on the middle Mississippi Valley region.
“Severe weather is expected to impact areas as far north as portions of southern Illinois and central Indiana starting Wednesday afternoon and persisting into Wednesday night,” stated AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham. The combination of darkness, low clouds, and wooded, rolling hills in the region will significantly increase the tornado risk.
On Thursday, the severe weather zone will extend from central Texas to the western slopes of the Appalachians in West Virginia, Maryland, and southwestern Pennsylvania. The risk of life-threatening flooding will escalate by midweek as the storm system moves slowly, hindered by a dome of heat in the Southeast. The thunderstorm zone is likely to move slowly, leading to a repetitive pattern akin to a conveyor belt.
This pattern of thunderstorm downpours, known as the “training effect,” will result in substantial rainfall from the Ozark mountains in Arkansas to the Ohio Valley, with some areas potentially receiving over a foot of rain. This could lead to life-threatening flash flooding initially, followed by flooding along larger rivers into the weekend.
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