Severe Storms, Tornadoes Target Minnesota to Kansas Saturday

By Chyna Glenn, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist

August 22,2015; 10:40PM,EDT

 

 

Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes will threaten lives and property from Kansas to Minnesota on Saturday afternoon and night.
"A strong cold front will move across the Upper Midwest and Plains Saturday, bringing strong thunderstorms from Minnesota through Kansas," AccuWeather Meteorologist Steve Travis said.

The interaction between this front and the warm and humid air preceding it will give way to severe thunderstorms, capable of producing tornadoes.
Cities at risk for the violent thunderstorms include Fargo, North Dakota; Minneapolis and St. Cloud, Minnesota; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Sioux City and Des Moines, Iowa; Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska; Kansas City; and Topeka and Wichita, Kansas.
"The strongest storms will fire up [Saturday] afternoon, continuing into the evening hours," Travis said.
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Traffic will be difficult at times along a nearly 870-mile stretch of Interstate 35 from Minnesota to the Kansas/Oklahoma border. Travelers should also be cautious across parts of interstate 29, 70, 80, 90 and 94.
"When the storms initially fire up, they will be more isolated in nature and there is enough instability and spin in the atmosphere for these thunderstorms to produce tornadoes," stated AccuWeather Meteorologist Becky Elliott.

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"The window for the greatest threat of a tornado will be in the first hour or two of storm development," continued Elliott. "After that, storms will merge into a line of storms with damaging winds and flooding rainfall existing as the main threats, but an isolated tornado still cannot be ruled out."
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The threat for severe weather will lessen for the second half of the weekend, but some thunderstorms with damaging winds and hail will still target places from southern Michigan to Indiana and northwestern Ohio on Sunday.

In the front's wake, gusty winds from the northwest will replace Saturday's severe weather across the Upper Midwest and Plains on Sunday. Highs will be 10 to 15 degrees lower. Winds could occasionally gust to or past 40 mph, especially in the northern Plains.
The danger will further wane as the front reaches the Northeast on Monday.
AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski contributed to the content of this story.