The Midwest began experiencing severe weather in the form of thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon, just days after strong tornadoes ripped through parts of the Central United States and blizzard conditions hit the Northern Tier. A similarly turbulent storm system was expected to deliver several extreme weather conditions in the same states Tuesday through Wednesday.
On the warmer side of the storm system, a dozen states from Wisconsin to Texas are at risk for severe weather again. Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas are most likely to be affected by winds and tornadoes.
Here’s what to expect across the country.
Storms have arrived in the Midwest.
As the storms moved into eastern Iowa in the afternoon, reports of destructive, wind-blown baseball-sized hail were reported in towns in northeastern Illinois, with winds up to 80 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service in Chicago. On the border of Oakley and Lee counties.
“This is a dangerous storm,” the service warned. “If you’re in its path, hide from the windows!”
Officials elsewhere have warned residents in affected areas to prepare for worse conditions.
“The risk of a rain-covered tornado in the dark is significantly greater than it is during the day, when everyone is out and paying attention,” said John Green, supervisor of Johnson County, Iowa. A few days ago due to severe weather. A 24-unit building in Coralville, about 20 miles south of Cedar Rapids, was declared “uninhabitable.” Mr. Green said. Storm Terrego in 2020 left residents especially on edge, he added.
The weather service office for the Quad Cities, a group of cities in Iowa and Illinois, said the area could receive. Three rounds of severe weather Starting Tuesday afternoon. The second and third rounds will come on Tuesday evening and early Wednesday. At their most severe, storms are expected to move at 50 to 60 mph.
Severe weather could disrupt a mayoral runoff race in Chicago, where officials urged residents on Monday. Vote early. (As of noon local time, more than 364,500 votes had been cast, representing a citywide turnout of 22.9 percent.) The storm could also affect election turnout in Wisconsin.
“Strong, long-track gusts are possible in addition to large hail and damaging winds,” Storm Prediction Center forecasters said Tuesday morning. Some of them are likely to happen at night.
Cyclone winds in the south in the afternoon.
By late Tuesday night, severe weather will begin moving into parts of the south. Forecasters said confidence was rising in the potential for rare and dangerous overnight tornadoes and damaging winds in parts of southern Arkansas and Texas. Nocturnal tornadoes are not uncommon, but strong nighttime tornadoes like the one here can occur.
Meteorologists with the weather service in Little Rock, Ark alerted residents Tuesday morning Be careful for this reason.
“Severe weather fatigue is very real,” forecasters said. They warned that Tuesday night’s forecast, with threats after midnight, could lead to “a false sense of security as nothing happens during the day”.
Forecasters said the timing of storms could lead to “higher vulnerability,” stressing the importance of staying alert and having multiple methods of receiving alerts that can wake a person from sleep.
The upper Midwest and Rockies will see snow.
A foot to two feet of heavy snow is possible north of the center of the storm system, from the Rockies to the upper Midwest. This amount of snow could challenge some April snow records in the Dakotas and northwestern Minnesota. Forecasters at the Weather Forecast Center said Monday afternoon.
