Severe storms to reignite over millions across Southern Plains and Midwest, with more intense threat looming
This stormy pattern will last through Saturday before expanding into the Midwest on Sunday and into next week.
Multiday severe weather threat reloads over millions across Central US
After a blocking pattern sent temperatures soaring into the 80s and 90s across the Central US this week, severe weather will return to the region beginning Thursday. A storm will eject out of the Rockies Thursday and fuel storms from Illinois to Texas. This stormy pattern will last through Saturday before expanding into the Midwest Sunday and into next week.
A severe weather pattern is returning to the Central U.S. that will bring days of storms to millions of people across the Central and Southern Plains beginning Thursday, following record heat earlier this week.
OMEGA PATTERN BRINGS RECORD HEAT ACROSS CENTRAL US WHILE STORMS TARGET NORTHWEST AND NORTHEAST
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A storm will eject out of the Rockies Thursday and fuel storms from Illinois to Texas. This stormy pattern will last through Saturday before expanding into the Midwest on Sunday and into next week.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, as these systems emerge from the West, they will quickly begin to pull moisture from the Gulf northward into the heart of the country, which will fuel weekend storms.
HOW HIGH PRESSURE AND LOW PRESSURE DRIVE THE WEATHER
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has issued a Level 2 out of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms for central Kansas, including Salina and Wichita.
A layer of warm air in the atmosphere may limit storm development, but those that do form could generate hailstones as large as 2 inches in diameter.
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The threat will expand into the weekend. Saturday's storms will be driven by a dryline — the boundary between dry air from the west and moist air from the Gulf — that is forecast to set up across west Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. This setup could fuel the development of supercell thunderstorms.
The biggest risk for supercells that do develop are large hail and damaging winds, but a few tornadoes are also possible.
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A Level 2 threat covers southern Iowa, northern Missouri, southeastern Nebraska, central Kansas and parts of northern Oklahoma.
A second, more powerful storm system is expected to develop across the region Sunday, when a Level 2 threat expands into parts of Wisconsin.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, Eastern Nebraska and western Iowa are at greatest risk of seeing tornadoes, damaging wind gusts and large hail.
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The severe weather threat is expected to expand deeper into the Midwest and South on Monday.
TRIPLE-DIGIT HEAT RETURNS TO THE WEST AS DOZENS OF MAJOR CITIES EYE RECORD-BREAKING TEMPERATURES
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Down the line, above-average rain appears likely for the second half of May, with a pattern that's even more conducive for storms in the Central U.S. expected to take shape.
Stay with FOX Weather for the latest on this weekend's potential storms.