The Fourth of July may be over, but FOX Weather is still tracking nature’s fireworks as storms spark later Wednesday across the central U.S.
Scattered severe thunderstorms are forecast from the central High Plains eastward into the mid-Mississippi Valley and parts of the Midwest.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) highlighted an area covering over 28.5 million from eastern Colorado, northeastern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle through Illinois and far southeastern Wisconsin for a level 2 out of 5 on the severe thunderstorm risk scale.
Chicago, Denver, St. Louis, Oklahoma City and Tulsa in Oklahoma and Colorado Springs in Colorado are some larger cities facing this higher risk.
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A complex of storms evolved over eastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri early Wednesday morning and will continue to roll southeastward, the FOX Forecast Center said.
As high temperatures climb into the mid-90s, more scattered thunderstorms are expected to develop from eastern Colorado into northeastern New Mexico on Wednesday afternoon.
Some supercell potential is expected, and the FOX Forecast Center said large hail and damaging winds will be the primary concerns.
The southeastern movement of the storms should lead to one or more thunderstorm complexes that spread toward northern Oklahoma during the overnight hours, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
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Farther east, scattered severe thunderstorms are also expected to develop ahead of a cold front across the mid-Mississippi Valley and parts of the Midwest. This includes the Chicago and St. Louis metro areas.
Temperatures will climb well into the 80s as far north as southeastern Wisconsin, the FOX Forecast Center said. Computer forecast models suggest thunderstorms should fire up by early afternoon, and the main threat with this activity will be damaging wind gusts before the storms gradually taper off Wednesday night.
Scattered strong and severe storms are forecast from the northern High Plains southeastward to Kansas and Oklahoma.
The SPC highlighted an area covering over 5.2 million across eastern Colorado, western and central Kansas, western Nebraska, eastern Wyoming, southwestern South Dakota and far southeastern Montana for a level 2 out of 5 on the severe thunderstorm risk scale.
Larger cities facing this higher risk include Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora, Lakewood and Fort Collins in Colorado, Cheyenne and Casper in Wyoming and Rapid City in South Dakota.
More scattered severe storms are expected across central portions of the U.S. on Friday.
The SPC highlighted an area covering over 9.1 million from eastern Colorado, central and southern Kansas, northern Oklahoma and western Missouri for a level 2 out of 5 on the severe thunderstorm risk scale.
Major cities facing this higher risk include Denver and Colorado Springs in Colorado, Kansas City in Missouri, Tulsa in Oklahoma and Wichita in Kansas.