Plains Severe Storm Threat, Includes Tornadoes

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

October 13,2012; 6:00AM,EDT

 

 

A strengthening storm tracking toward Michigan will bring a major severe weather outbreak, including the risk of tornadoes, to much of the central Plains today.
The potential for dangerous and damaging thunderstorms will reach over a large part of the Central U.S. into Sunday, impacting tens of millions of people through the weekend.
The main outbreak of severe weather will commence Saturday over the central Plains.

The risk of damaging and life-threatening storm will reach a peak Saturday afternoon and evening from southern Minnesota and southern Wisconsin to Iowa, northwestern Illinois, eastern Nebraska, central and eastern Kansas, northern and western Missouri, central and eastern Oklahoma, northwestern Arkansas and north-central Texas.

According to Severe Weather Expert Henry Margusity, "The potential from the storms spans the complete arsenal of violent weather ranging from large hail and flash flooding to damaging straight-line wind gusts and tornadoes."
Cities that could be hit by violent thunderstorms spanning Saturday afternoon and evening include Omaha, Des Moines, Rockford, Kansas City, Joplin, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Dallas and Wichita.
College and high school football games are only a handful of the activities that could be impacted by the severe weather threat.

The risk of storms with strong wind gusts and torrential downpours will continue into the latter part of the weekend.
Over portions of the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes, strong wind gusts, with and without thunder, are a possibility as a cool front plows eastward during Sunday. Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Louisville, Cincinnati and Detroit could experience squalls capable of knocking down tree limbs and power lines.
Farther south, slow-moving and potentially repeating downpours and locally severe thunderstorms may affect portions of central and northeastern Texas to part of the lower Mississippi Valley Sunday.
The pattern shaping up into this weekend is a classic example of the secondary severe weather season that occurs during autumn.