A night after the South was slammed by tornadoes, massive hailstones and blistering winds Wednesday, the atmosphere was recharging for another round of widespread severe weather on Thursday, only this time the threat has expanded back west across the Plains to cover parts of 12 states.
Nearly 20 million people from western Oklahoma and Kansas through the South and into the Florida Panhandle are once again threatened by damaging wind gusts, hailstones larger than 2-3 inches, and tornadoes.
The Plains have the greatest threat of dangerous weather Thursday, with NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center issuing a Level 4 out of 5 severe weather risk across much of western Oklahoma into southwestern Kansas, while North and Central Texas and western Arkansas have a lower but still likely threat of severe storms.
Severe storms will begin firing early Thursday afternoon, with storms increasing in coverage and intensity throughout the afternoon and evening. Supercell thunderstorms will bring threats of tornadoes and hailstones of 3 inches or larger, while clusters of thunderstorms may again bring the risk of a derecho in the afternoon or evening with gusts of 80 mph. This line will likely move into the Ark-La-Tex region by evening, and into the lower Mississippi Valley Thursday night.
In the Southeast, the threat level is a little lower than Wednesday but still a Level 2 risk from the SPC, meaning residents still need to be ready for severe thunderstorms with potential for large hail, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes. Around 100,000 people in the South are still without power Thursday morning from Wednesday night’s storms, according to PowerOutage.US.
Here, severe thunderstorms will begin to develop earlier – starting late Thursday morning and continuing into the afternoon, especially along southern Alabama into northern Florida. Storms will gradually spread south toward the Gulf Coast during the afternoon.
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The severe weather threat continues into Friday, though the forecast is not as intense or as widespread as Wednesday or Thursday.
The ongoing storms across the Southern Plains will gradually wind down, and new storms may develop along what’s leftover, according to the FOX Forecast Center. It’s also possible the storms re-intensify during Friday, and those would then pose the greatest severe threat, but earlier in the day.
SPC currently has a Level 2 risk across much of the South once again, spreading from Arkansas into Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Another area to watch is in southwestern Kansas into southeastern Colorado and the Oklahoma Panhandle. Damaging winds and hail the biggest threat, though an isolated tornado can’t be ruled out.
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Additional rounds of severe weather are likely this weekend as a jet stream disturbance slides east across the Plains and mid-South.
Late Saturday and into Saturday night, severe storms are expected across southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma. That includes the potential for supercells capable of producing large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes.
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A more organized severe weather threat is possible Sunday and Sunday night across parts of the Ozark Plateau and mid-South into the Tennessee Valley.
Large hail and damaging wind gusts will likely be the primary threats, but an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out.