Chicago, Milwaukee among cities threatened by storms packing strong tornadoes, hurricane-force wind gusts
More than 87 million people from the Upper Midwest to the mid-Atlantic will be at risk of severe weather on Thursday. However, chances are higher across portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
Storms packing strong tornadoes, large hail threaten Midwest cities like Chicago, Milwaukee
A multiday severe weather threat is continuing on Thursday, with tens of millions of people in cities like Chicago and Milwaukee bracing for storms that could produce strong tornadoes, large hail and damaging wind gusts. FOX Weather Meteorologists Marissa Torres and Jane Minar break down the latest forecast on Thursday, May 15.
CHICAGO – A weeklong severe weather threat continues on Thursday as millions of people in major Midwest cities like Chicago and Milwaukee brace for powerful storms that could pack very large hail, hurricane-force wind gusts and strong tornadoes.
This renewed threat comes after an eerie lull in extreme weather during a month that is usually packed with reports of strong to severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
(FOX Weather)
Forecasters have been tracking the possibility of a multiday severe weather event since the weekend, and storm chances in cities from the Plains through the Midwest and into the Ohio Valley have been growing ever since.
More than 87 million people from the Upper Midwest to the mid-Atlantic will be at risk of severe weather on Thursday. However, chances are higher across portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
Watch: Landspout tornado spotted in Nebraska
A landspout tornado was caught on video as it spun across the landscape in North Platte, Nebraska, on Wednesday, May 14.
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has placed more than 20 million people in that region under a Level 3 risk on its 5-point severe thunderstorm risk scale.
This includes cities such as Chicago, Madison and Milwaukee in Wisconsin, St. Paul in Minnesota and Fort Wayne in Indiana.
Elsewhere, nearly 33 million people in cities like Minneapolis, Detroit and Indianapolis have been placed in a Level 2 out of 5 threat.
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The FOX Forecast Center said that ahead of a cold front, deep moisture from the Gulf and moderate instability in the atmosphere will give way to severe thunderstorms developing during the afternoon hours.
Some of those thunderstorms will likely be supercells, and eventually, a broken line of storms will develop by mid-afternoon and move northeastward through the Chicago and Milwaukee metro areas.
Wisconsin braces for powerful storms packing large hail, strong tornadoes on Thursday
A multiday severe weather threat is well underway and is now targeting Midwest communities like Milwaukee. FOX 6 Milwaukee Chief Meteorologist Rob Haswell joined FOX Weather on Thursday to break down the threat in Wisconsin.
The more intense storms will have hail larger than 2 inches, and given the amount of spin in the atmosphere, conditions will be favorable to support tornadoes, some of which could be strong (EF-2 or higher).
Severe weather is then expected to sweep into Michigan, and storms will be capable of producing wind gusts higher than 75 mph, along with very large hail.
Elsewhere in the Ohio Valley, severe thunderstorms will be much more scattered in nature.
Severe weather threat grows on Friday
(FOX Weather)
The severe weather threat is continuing to increase as we get into Friday, with more than 16 million people in cities like Indianapolis, Nashville, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Louisville, Kentucky, in a Level 3 out of 5 threat.
Storms, however, could erupt across a wide swath of the U.S. from Texas to the Northeast.
Intense rain, winds move through Pennsylvania
FILE VIDEO - Home security video shows a powerful squall moving through Duncansville, Pennsylvania on Sunday as a line of storms moves across the eastern U.S.
The SPC has placed more than 16 million people in a Level 2 out of 5 threat on Friday in cities like Columbus in Ohio, Memphis and Knoxville in Tennessee, Little Rock in Arkansas and Huntsville in Alabama.
Tornadoes, large hail and damaging wind gusts are all possible with storms that develop on Friday.
Philadelphia, Washington at risk of severe storms on Saturday
(FOX Weather)
The multiday severe weather threat will continue on Saturday, and the threat zone includes tens of millions of people along the Interstate 95 corridor on the East Coast.
The SPC placed cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington in a Level 2 out of 5 threat on Saturday.
New York City and Boston will also be at risk of strong to severe storms, and those cities have been placed in a Level 1 threat.
FILE - A lightning bolt strikes between Lower Manhattan in New York City and Jersey City during an electrical storm on August 4, 2022, as seen from Hoboken, New Jersey.
(Gary Hershorn / Getty Images)
Storms are also possible across portions of Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Oklahoma City has also been placed in a Level 2 threat.
Long-range models show severe weather threat extending into next week
This graphic shows a severe weather threat starting on Sunday, May 18.
(FOX Weather)
Computer forecast models suggest the threat of severe weather could extend each day into at least the start of next week.
The FOX Forecast Center said an area of low pressure is expected to form near the Rockies by early Sunday. Storm energy will move into the southern Plains as a warm front lifts northward.
Storms are then expected to fire up east of the dryline – a boundary separating a humid air mass from a much drier air mass – by late Sunday.
Watch: EF-1 tornado tears roof off home in Princeton, Indiana
FILE VIDEO - Intense video captured an EF-1 tornado impacting Princeton, Indiana, on Thursday. The footage shows debris swirling through a residential area before the tornado tore the roof off a house. Multiple homes and Princeton Community High School sustained damage. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
By Monday, a more widespread severe weather threat is expected as the system moves deeper into the Plains, with all severe weather hazards possible.
Then, by Tuesday, the FOX Forecast Center said the threat of severe weather could push eastward into the Ohio Valley. However, that’s still several days away, and details will be ironed out as more information is learned.