enhanced tornado – Residents across the Midwest and Great Plains are preparing for another round of severe weather starting Sunday and carrying into Monday and Tuesday, with enhanced and moderate risk zones mapped from Nebraska to Minnesota and from central and northeast Kansas
When the warnings reset Sunday, residents across the Plains and Midwest were left bracing again for storms that can bring tornadoes, damaging winds, and large hail.
The next round is expected to extend into Monday and Tuesday. with the forecast looking especially active from north-central Oklahoma up into Minnesota and western Wisconsin.. The highest focus is in the “enhanced risk” area—level 3 out of 5—stretching from east-central Nebraska to southwest Minnesota and including Sioux Falls. South Dakota. and Grand Island. Nebraska.. In that zone, large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes are possible.
For many. the new alerts arrive just a day after a string of severe storms across the central part of the country.. Reports of tornadoes were logged in Iowa. Kansas. and Nebraska. and hail the size of baseballs was reported in Kansas. Missouri. Iowa. and Nebraska.. In Kansas, thunderstorms near Concordia produced estimated wind gusts of 90 mph, knocking down trees and power lines.
Even as people started to clear up, other impacts rolled in.. Hill City Airport in northwest Kansas reported wind gusts up to 82 mph. and the strong winds helped fuel dust storms that threatened driving conditions.. In Missouri. thunderstorms on Saturday night prompted a flash flood emergency in central Grundy County. including the city of Trenton. when six to eight inches of rain fell in a matter of hours.
The calendar is now sliding into the workweek with that pattern of risks continuing.. More than 30 million people from the central Plains to the Midwest are expected to be on alert for a potential outbreak of severe weather on Monday.. A level 4 out of 5 “moderate risk” advisory has been issued for parts of central and northeast Kansas into far southeast Nebraska. including the city of Topeka. Kansas.. That advisory covers the potential for potentially strong tornadoes, hail larger than baseballs, and destructive winds.
On Tuesday. the forecast again highlights the Plains and Midwest. with a level 3 out of 5 “enhanced risk” advisory extending from north-central Oklahoma into central Wisconsin. including Wichita. Kansas; Kansas City. Missouri; Omaha. Nebraska; and Des Moines. Iowa.. Farther south. a level 2 out of 5 “slight risk” advisory for severe weather is expected to stretch from northeast Texas to Michigan. with potentially strong to severe thunderstorms in that area.
The severity isn’t confined to storms.. Across parts of the Plains and Southwest. critical fire weather conditions are expected to continue into this week amid widespread warm. dry. and windy conditions.. Several wildfires broke out in parts of Minnesota on Saturday and rapidly grew.. The largest Minnesota wildfire. the Flanders Fire in Crow Wing County. has burned more than 1. 100 acres and was 0% contained on Sunday morning. prompting evacuation orders in the city of Crosslake.. The Minnesota fires pushed Gov.. Tim Walz to declare a state of emergency Sunday morning and mobilize the state’s National Guard.
Dozens of wildfires also broke out over the weekend across the Great Plains from Montana to the Dakotas, and additional fires broke out in Texas and New Mexico over the last week. On Sunday, the greatest wildfire threats are in northwest Texas, including Amarillo, and parts of New Mexico and Kansas.
Red-flag fire danger warnings have also been issued from Arizona to southern Nebraska. as well as in California’s Central San Joaquin Valley.. Severe to extreme drought conditions exist in some of the red-flag warning areas. where expected wind gusts topping 55 mph threaten to rapidly spread wildfires.. The extreme fire weather danger is expected to continue into Monday in parts of far eastern New Mexico. far southeast Colorado. far southwest Kansas. parts of Oklahoma. and the Texas panhandle.
Across the East, the weather picture includes a different kind of pressure: heat.. A big warm-up is expected for most of the East. with afternoon temperatures on Sunday and Monday forecast to reach the 80s and 90s in many places.. The temperature in New York City is expected to reach the mid-80s on Monday and could hit the lower 90s in Washington. D.C.. It will be even hotter on Tuesday for a large swath of the I-95 corridor. with highs in the 90s from Washington. D.C.. to Philadelphia and New York City.
The days’ warnings connect in a clear sequence: severe storms ramp up across the Plains and Midwest on Sunday. expand the alert to a larger population on Monday—over 30 million—then keep the risk going into Tuesday with another enhanced zone. while at the same time fire-weather red-flag warnings and extreme drought conditions in parts of the Southwest and Plains extend into Monday as wind gusts continue to climb.
Midwest severe weather Great Plains tornado risk enhanced risk level 3 out of 5 moderate risk level 4 out of 5 large hail damaging winds flash flood emergency wildfires Minnesota Flanders Fire Red-flag fire danger warnings critical fire weather summer-like temperatures East