Weekend Severe Storms, Tornadoes to Threaten Texas to Indiana

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

December 20,2013; 8:09PM,EST

 

 

Thunderstorms in parts of the South this weekend may become strong enough to threaten lives and property. Some of the thunderstorms will produce tornadoes.
A surge of warm, humid air associated with a developing storm over the South Central states this weekend will spark severe thunderstorm development.
The area of concern for severe weather Saturday will reach from part of central and northeastern Texas to a large part of Louisiana and Mississippi, southeastern Arkansas, southeastern portions of Missouri, the southern tip of Indiana and western portions of Tennessee and Kentucky.

The main threats are damaging wind gusts and flash flooding. Wind gusts can reach 80 mph in some of the strongest storm. Rainfall is forecast to be heavy enough to cause flash, urban and small stream flooding.
There is also the risk for a few tornadoes within this zone.
According to Mike Smith, senior vice president of AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions, "East Texas could have violent tornadoes Saturday afternoon and evening, possibly spreading to portions of Arkansas and Louisiana."
Cities that may be hit with damaging thunderstorms and travel disruptions include Houston; Little Rock, Ark.; Shreveport, La.; Jackson, Miss.; New Orleans; and Memphis, Tenn.
What will elevate the danger with the severe weather is that some of the strongest storms and the potential for tornadoes will occur after dark Saturday.
"My concern is since this is both out of season and a holiday travel weekend, people might be caught off guard," Smith stated.
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Locally gusty and drenching thunderstorms with the risk of urban flooding will extend northward into the upper part of the Ohio Valley Saturday night and as far east as the Appalachians and the northeastern Gulf Coast by Sunday.
Blinding downpours and water-logged roadways will reach from I-10 to I-70 with severe thunderstorms centered on the I-55 corridor.
It is possible parts of the coastal mid-Atlantic and southern New England will have a rare December thunderstorm Sunday night.
North and west of the storm track, a zone of ice and snow will occur that can be rather heavy from parts of the central Plains to the Great Lakes, northern New England and neighboring Canada.

While severe weather outbreaks are much more rare during the winter months, they are no stranger to the South Central states in December.
A major tornado outbreak stretched from Arkansas to Alabama and as far north as Illinois during Dec. 18-19, 1957. The storms took the lives of 19 people.
Just last year on Christmas Day, a severe thunderstorm and tornado outbreak reached from northeastern Texas to central Alabama.
"A tornado struck downtown Mobile, Ala., last Christmas afternoon," Smith added.