Watches Issued as Severe Thunderstorms With Damaging Winds Continue to Threaten the Midwest

July 7,2016
Severe thunderstorms primarily with damaging winds and large hail, perhaps a few tornadoes, will continue to threaten the Midwest into Friday.
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has issued the following severe weather watches:

• A severe thunderstorm watch valid until 11:00 p.m. EDT for central and eastern North Carolina and northern and eastern South Carolina. This watch area includes Raleigh, North Carolina.
• A severe thunderstorm watch valid until 11:00 p.m. EDT for western North Carolina. This watch area includes Asheville, North Carolina.
• A severe thunderstorm watch valid until midnight EDT for eastern Tennessee and far southwest Virginia. This watch area includes Knoxville, Tennessee.
• A severe thunderstorm watch valid until 11 p.m. CDT for western and central Iowa and eastern Nebraska.

Among the latest damage reports on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service:

• "Extensive tree damage" reported in Kossuth County, Iowa
• Power lines downed on Ottumwah, Iowa
• Trees and power lines downed in Albert Lea, Minnesota
• Power out and large trees downed in Maryville, Missouri
• A grain bin was blown over in Fairfax, Missouri
• Power lines down near Coles County Airport in Coles, Illinois
• Trees and power lines downed in Oblong, Illinois

Additionally, floods forced evacuations and water rescues in Tennessee and Kentucky Thursday morning. States of emergency ended up being declared in those states. For more on Thursday's severe weather reports, click here to read our impacts article.

Current Radar with Watches and Warnings

(MORE: View National Interactive Radar Map | Difference Between a Watch and a Warning)
More severe weather is possible ahead of an area of low pressure as it pushes east into Friday.
Below is our latest forecast thinking on the timing and magnitude of the severe threats into Friday.

Severe Weather Forecast

Thursday Evening

• Forecast: Scattered severe storms are possible from eastern Nebraska into Iowa, southern Minnesota, northern Missouri, northeast Kansas, Illinois and southern Wisconsin, extending into Indiana and western Kentucky.
• Threats: Damaging straight-line winds will be the main threats, though a tornado or two can't be ruled out.
• Cities: Chicago | Des Moines | Minneapolis

Thursday Evening's Thunderstorm Forecast

Friday

• Forecast: The potential for severe storms will continue farther east along the cold front from the eastern Great Lakes into the Ohio Valley.
• Threats: Damaging winds and large hail are the main threats, though a tornado or two can't be ruled out.
• Cities: Cleveland | Louisville, Kentucky | Pittsburgh

Friday's Thunderstorm Forecast

Storm Reports

Enning, South Dakota, saw tea-cup sized hail on Wednesday, which accumulated on the ground and shattered several vehicle windows. Winds of 60 mph allowed those hailstones to pile up in drifts, similar to snow in the winter.
There were nine reports of tornadoes Wednesday, eight in Nebraska and one in Montana. Fortunately, they were all in relatively rural areas, and no damage was reported as a result.
Meanwhile, over 300 reports of high winds/wind damage were reported Wednesday from the Dakotas to Georgia and South Carollina, associated with clusters of t-storms.
Widespread damaging wind gusts were observed across southern Minnesota on Tuesday, which knocked down trees and power lines, including in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro. At one point Tuesday night, about 130,000 Xcel Energy customers had lost power in Minnesota, The Associated Press reported.

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PHOTOS: Plains, Midwest Mid-June 2016 Severe Weather and Flooding