Violent thunderstorms to put millions in Plains, midwestern US at risk this week

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist

July 5,2016; 10:15AM,EDT

 

 

Multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms will threaten lives and property in parts of the Plains and midwestern United States during the middle and latter part of this week.
A series of storm systems will roll eastward along the northern tier of the U.S.
The storm systems will create a broad area of showers and thunderstorms over the northern and central Plains. At times, the thundery weather will extend into the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley.
Into Tuesday night, the first round of storms has the potential to turn violent from near the Minnesota and Dakota border eastward to parts of Wisconsin and southward to parts of Nebraska and Iowa.

"All facets of severe weather can occur over parts of the northern Plains and the Upper Midwest into Tuesday night," according to AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologist Alex Avalos.
The storms will have the potential to produce powerful wind gusts, large hail, frequent lightning strikes and isolated flash flooding.
The severe weather threat also includes the potential for tornadoes in a few of the strongest storms.
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Prior to the middle of the week, some of the cities that have the greatest chance of being hit by a violent storm include Fargo, North Dakota; Huron, South Dakota; Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; Minneapolis and Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Most areas of the Ohio Valley saturated by rounds of rain and thunderstorms from the Independence Day weekend will get a break through Tuesday night. Much of the central and eastern Great Lakes region will be free of rain.
"On Wednesday and Wednesday night, the area of concern for severe weather looks most potent in portions of South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and southern Minnesota," Avalos said.

Once again, the strongest storms can bring damaging wind gusts, large hail, frequent lightning, flash flooding and perhaps a few tornadoes.
Some locations could be hit by severe storms during two days or nights in a row and two to three times this week.
A more general area of showers and thunderstorms will extend from the Great Lakes to parts of the Ohio and middle Mississippi valleys during Wednesday.
During Thursday, the caboose in this particular storm train will cause an area of strong to severe thunderstorms to re-fire from Minnesota to Nebraska and Kansas, before spreading eastward across the Midwest into Friday.

The storms later this week have the potential to be every bit as violent and cover more states farther east, when compared to storms through Wednesday.
Local commuters and those traveling long distances should be prepared for delays in the Midwest during the latter part of the week.
Strong to locally severe storms will take aim from Missouri and Illinois to Ohio and Michigan later this week and could impact the metro areas of Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.