March won’t be going out like a lamb this year, as another multiday severe weather threat looms for the Plains, Midwest and South in the month’s final days, less than a week after Friday’s deadly tornadoes that tore across Mississippi and Alabama.
A storm system will first impact California during the first half of the workweek, bringing more rain, mountain snow and high winds to the waterlogged state. The upper-level jet stream disturbance responsible for this latest California storm will then sweep into the central U.S. late this week.
As that jet stream disturbance moves into the Plains, it will cause low pressure at the surface to intensify, which will pull warm and humid air northward from the Gulf of Mexico.
The combination of instability from that warm, humid air and plenty of wind shear – the change in wind speed and direction with height – will prime the atmosphere for another episode of severe weather beginning Thursday.
HOW DOES A TORNADO OUTBREAK HAPPEN?
Since this threat is still a few days away, specific forecast details will likely change as we get closer, but here’s what the FOX Forecast Center can tell you as we begin the final week of March.
Isolated severe storms are possible Thursday afternoon and evening in the southern Plains, particularly from south-central Kansas into Oklahoma and northern Texas.
Large hail, damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes will all be possible in this region.
WE’RE ENTERING AMERICA’S MOST ACTIVE TIME OF YEAR FOR TORNADOES
A much larger area of severe thunderstorms is expected Friday and Friday night, centered over the Mississippi Valley. The highest severe weather threat is predicted to stretch from Iowa and Illinois southward into Arkansas, northern Mississippi and West Tennessee.
Tornadoes, damaging wind gusts and large hail will all be dangerous threats, potentially into the overnight hours in some areas.
NIGHTTIME TORNADOES FAR MORE LIKELY TO TURN DEADLY THAN DAYTIME ONES
A few severe storms could linger Saturday from the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes to the East Coast, but the exact areas that face the most significant risk remain uncertain since we’re still several days away.
Damaging wind gusts would likely be the main threat in these areas.
Be sure to check back with FOX Weather for updates to the forecast. Click here to learn how to prepare for this upcoming severe weather threat.