A severe weather outbreak is expected to impact parts of the South in the week ahead on the warm side of a coast-to-coast storm tracking across the U.S.
The powerful storm got underway over the weekend when a large upper-level low-pressure system buried many western mountains in feet of snow. It will now punch eastward early this week into the central U.S., where it will receive an injection of moisture streaming north from the Gulf of Mexico.
A strong cold front associated with the area of low pressure will sweep east from the southern Plains into the lower Mississippi Valley and northern Gulf Coast between Monday night and Thursday. That front will provide the trigger for thunderstorm development as it pushes through a warm, humid air mass engulfing these regions.
“We are under the threat (of severe weather) Monday evening all the way through Wednesday morning … maybe even Wednesday midday,” FOX Weather meteorologist Amy Freeze said. “Areas to watch: southern Plains and lower Mississippi Valley. This is where we’re going to be watching for the most serious weather.”
This is all associated with the same coast-to-coast storm that’s also expected to spawn a northern Plains blizzard and possibly even a snowstorm in the Northeast toward the end of the workweek.
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An initial round of thunderstorms overnight Monday could turn strong to severe from portions of western and central Kansas southward to Oklahoma and western North Texas.
Damaging wind gusts, isolated large hail and a couple of brief tornadoes are all possible.
HERE’S WHERE TORNADOES ARE MOST LIKELY TO OCCUR IN EACH MONTH
Tuesday is expected to have the highest threat of severe weather in this potential outbreak. The locations at risk of severe thunderstorms will stretch from East Texas into southern Arkansas, Louisiana and western and southern Mississippi. That includes Alexandria, New Orleans and Shreveport in Louisiana, as well as Jackson in Mississippi.
Within that region, there could be an even higher potential for severe weather in the area shaded in the darkest red on the map below, which includes far East Texas, northern and central Louisiana and far southwestern Mississippi.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail will all be possible, with the threat of dangerous storms continuing through the overnight hours and into early Wednesday morning in eastern portions of this region.
HOW YOU SHOULD PREPARE FOR A TORNADO
Nighttime tornadoes are more than twice as likely to result in deaths than those that happen during the day because many people are asleep and caught unaware when a dangerous twister might be headed in their direction.
Make sure you have multiple ways of receiving potentially life-saving weather alerts issued by the National Weather Service, including one that will wake you up during the night.
NIGHTTIME TORNADOES FAR MORE LIKELY TO TURN DEADLY THAN DAYTIME ONES
As this system moves farther east, additional severe thunderstorms are expected to fire up Wednesday from southeastern Louisiana into southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, southwestern Georgia and the Florida Panhandle.
Once again, a few tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail will all be possible with Wednesday’s round of storms. Cities at risk of severe thunderstorms include Baton Rouge and New Orleans in Louisiana, Hattiesburg in Mississippi, Mobile in Alabama and Tallahassee in Florida.
THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD DO IF YOU ARE DRIVING AND THERE IS A TORNADO ON THE GROUND
The storm system will slide into the Southeast on Thursday, spawning one final day of severe storms from southern South Carolina to parts of South Georgia and Florida.
A couple of tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail will all be a concern for cities such as Savannah in Georgia and Jacksonville, Orlando, Tallahassee and Tampa in Florida.
Be sure to check back with FOX Weather for updates on both the severe side and the wintry side of this coast-to-coast storm in the week ahead.