Back-to-back storms sweeping across the U.S. will put millions of people in the South and Ohio Valley at risk of severe weather over the next few days.
The threat of severe weather on Tuesday will be limited to parts of Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri, including Kansas City. However, Wednesday and Thursday will see a much larger threat area, putting millions more Americans at risk of seeing dangerous weather.
The first storm is spinning across the Plains, bringing snow to the colder side on the north and rain to the warmer side on the south.
As the day continues, the FOX Forecast Center will be tracking the possibility of some strong to severe thunderstorms that could sweep across parts of southeastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas and western Missouri, particularly during the heating of the day from the late afternoon into the early evening.
While damaging winds and large hail will be the main threats from any storms that develop, the FOX Forecast Center can’t rule out a tornado or two due to the favorable low-level spin in the atmosphere in the wake of the low-pressure system sliding across the region.
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The threat of severe weather will expand in area by Wednesday and Thursday as the second of the back-to-back storms pulls in warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and a strong cold front sweeps in from the north.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, the first area of concern will be along the Interstate 35 corridor near the Red River along the Texas–Oklahoma border on Wednesday afternoon and evening.
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A few supercell thunderstorms could develop there, which will pose a risk of very large hail as well as a tornado threat.
Large hail is more likely from these storms, with hail as large as golf balls possible.
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People living in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex will be under the dangerous hail threat from this initial round of storms.
Any storms that develop on Wednesday will eventually move into parts of Arkansas and Louisiana, but it’s still unclear how far east those storms will travel.
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The FOX Forecast Center believes the second area to watch for severe weather will develop overnight Wednesday and into Thursday across parts of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
An unstable air mass will help fuel thunderstorm growth, including some supercells. Those will be capable of producing damaging wind gusts and tornadoes.
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Storms will continue to push across the region by Thursday morning, and the FOX Forecast Center will be busy tracking the possibility of more supercell thunderstorms sweeping across parts of Mississippi and Alabama.
Damaging wind gusts and tornadoes will again be possible across those regions.
The severe weather threat will then start to wind down entering into the overnight hours before fizzling out on Friday.