Second Round of Deadly Tornadoes, Severe Storms Predicted Across Southern Plains and Midwest

After causing destruction on Friday, Mother Nature is preparing for another high-impact and dangerous severe weather day on Saturday. The atmospheric conditions are once again ripe for a tornado outbreak which may prove lethal to certain parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Southeastern Kansas – regions that were already hit hard by the previous storms. Approximately 55 million individuals stand under the looming threat from border to border stretching nearly one-thousand five hundred miles across various Plains, Mississippi Valley as well as Great Lakes areas where severe weather has been a persistent menace in recent days. The day’s initial wave of violent thunderstorms is expected to begin around dawn and spread over Northwestern Texas into Western Oklahoma with large hailstones and strong winds being the most probable hazards during this phase. Later on Saturday afternoon, an atmosphere that becomes highly conducive for multiple tornadoes as well as massive golf ball-sized hailstones will surface. The risk of twisters has been assessed at Level 4 out of a possible score of five by NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center which also anticipates damaging winds surpassing seventy-five miles per hour during this time span in North Texas, Oklahoma and Southeastern Kansas where the storm risks are particularly acute. Towards Saturday evening, another line of severe thunderstorms is forecasted to form over Eastern Oklahoma as well as Northern Texas with embedded tornadoes and damaging winds anticipated towards midnight across these regions. While areas farther north that had previously suffered direct hits from Friday’s twisters will also be under a Level 2 risk on Saturday, the threat of further severe weather persists in Nebraska through Wisconsin where an additional round of strong to severe storms is expected during this period with tornadoes and golf ball-sized hailstones being likely. In addition to these hazards, there’s also considerable danger from flash flooding as some thunderstorms are anticipated to produce heavy rainfall at a rate exceeding two inches per hour in the Southern Plains region between Northern Texas through Oklahoma City into Southeastern Kansas and Southwestern Missouri on Saturday evening and overnight. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Prediction Center has rated this flood risk as Level 3 out of four for these areas, with isolated zones possibly accumulating over eight inches by the weekend’s end. Severe weather is also anticipated to persist in various parts of Mississippi Valley on Sunday although it will not be quite as intense as Saturday and spanning over twenty million people between Austin, Dallas Texas to Southeastern Iowa as well as Western Illinois where tornadoes, large hailstones, and damaging wind gusts represent impending perilous factors during this interval. Hopefully for the nation’s heartland regions that have been hard-hit by severe weather in recent days will finally be spared from further storm activity on Monday.