A summertime severe weather setup will bring a round of strong thunderstorms to the central High Plains on Thursday that will likely pelt the region with very large hail, along with potentially damaging wind gusts.
Isolated thunderstorms will develop off the Rockies around early afternoon Thursday, then intensify into scattered supercells as they move into the High Plains of eastern Colorado and into western Kansas and Nebraska, and even into South Dakota through the late afternoon and evening.
A few more supercells will make their way into the Oklahoma Panhandle and even into the northern tip of the Texas Panhandle.
NOAA‘s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) puts that general region in a level 2 on its 5-point scale for severe weather risk on Thursday.
The storms’ greatest risk for damage will come from golf-ball-sized hail or larger, along with the potential for thunderstorm-triggered wind gusts of at least 60 mph.
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The overall tornado threat is low, but an isolated twister can’t be ruled out.
The severe storm potential will continue to move east and southeast into Friday, focusing on more of the central and southern Plains.
A level 2 out of 5 severe weather risk shifts into southern Kansas, including Wichita, and northern Oklahoma, according to the SPC.
Similar to Thursday, the main threats are large hail and damaging wind gusts. The tornado threat at this time appears minimal.