Locally severe thunderstorms to threaten Minnesota to Oklahoma Sunday

By Renee Duff, AccuWeather meteorologist

April 8,2017, 12:16:51PM,EDT

 

 Another round of dangerous thunderstorms will take aim at the Plains as the weekend comes to a close.

The thunderstorms will tend to be isolated in nature on Sunday afternoon into Sunday night. However, any thunderstorm that develops can turn severe in a matter of minutes.
A storm system that is first unleashing wind, rain and snow out West will tap into building warmth as it emerges over the Midwest on Sunday.
“While a widespread severe weather event is not expected Sunday afternoon into Sunday night, any isolated storm clusters that do develop will likely be severe with a few tornadoes, wind gusts to 70 mph and local flash flooding,” AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologist Brian Koochel said.
Koochel anticipates these threats to be greatest from eastern Kansas into northwestern Missouri, eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

The threat area encompasses stretches of Interstate 29, I-35, I-44 and I-70.
"While the strongest thunderstorms will fire to the south, there may be thunderstorms capable of producing hail in southern Minnesota and Wisconsin," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio said. "This includes in Minneapolis and Eau Claire, Wisconsin."
Long and short-term travelers should be prepared to face near-zero visibility in the worst thunderstorms and pooling of water on roadways.
Those taking advantage of the warm weather outside should keep an eye to the sky and stay abreast of local severe weather watches and warnings. Seek shelter indoors or in a car as soon as thunder is heard or lightning is seen to avoid a life-threatening situation.
An unsupportive environment will make it difficult for any thunderstorms to ignite near the Kansas and Oklahoma border and southward into Oklahoma City, according to Koochel.
However, any isolated thunderstorms that manage to develop this far south would quickly turn severe.
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Unlike recent severe weather events which have spawned tornadoes and wind damage from the Plains to the East Coast, this round of thunderstorms will fail to make significant eastward progress.
"Severe thunderstorms with damaging winds will press eastward to Davenport, Iowa, on Sunday night, but will weaken before tracking over much of Illinois," AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions Storm Warning Meteorologist Richard Schraeger said."
A broad high pressure system across the East, which is contributing to the major warmup, will act as a shield and tend to break up the thunderstorms into two main areas.
One cluster of severe thunderstorms and potentially flooding rain will sink southward across Texas, southeastern Oklahoma and north-central Arkansas on Monday.
A second area of locally heavy and gusty thunderstorms could erupt over the lower Great Lakes from central Illinois to northwestern Indiana and southern Michigan.

“There is a better shot for scattered severe storms Monday afternoon into Monday night across much of central Texas,” Koochel said.
Damaging wind, large hail and isolated tornadoes are anticipated for Monday.
“Flash flooding will likely become more of a concern as we move into Monday night with a general 1 to 3 inches of rain expected from central Texas into southeastern Oklahoma,” Koochel said, adding that localized rainfall amounts could reach 6 inches.
Several more rounds of drenching and potentially severe thunderstorms will threaten the Central states into next weekend.