A powerful weather system will generate intense thunderstorms across the central United States beginning this Sunday while it could produce tornadoes together with large hail and destructive wind gusts. The upcoming 48 hours will bring dangerous weather to 170 million residents extending from Illinois through eastern Texas and all areas in between because of the meeting between unseasonable heat and an approaching cold front.
The March period has produced an exceptional number of tornadoes which exceed the tornado reports from this time last year. Deadly storms that struck specific areas earlier this month may experience repeated danger. The Plains together with the East Coast experienced summer-like weather during the weekend which resembled late May and early June conditions until a strong cold front shifted the warm weather to end abruptly on Sunday thus triggering unstable weather conditions.
The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center issued a Level 3 out of 5 severe weather risk that affects more than 25 million people in the cities of Nashville Indianapolis and St. Louis. The Level 2 risk extends to 40 million residents who reside in Dallas as well as Chicago and Cleveland. The system’s strength became evident when large hail started producing storms near Oklahoma City during the late Saturday period. A storm system moving east from Illinois through eastern Texas will experience strengthening conditions during Sunday afternoon that will peak into powerful systems during the evening hours.
The storms on Sunday carry the risk of generating destructive threats including tornadoes with EF2 or higher strength, hail that will surpass golf ball size and wind gusts which can cause extensive damage. The peak storm hours increase the level of risk because the most dangerous storms will emerge in the evening. Research from 2022 reveals nighttime tornadoes result in double the fatalities of daytime tornadoes which raises serious concerns for regions under threat.
The severe weather conditions will continue into Monday as powerful thunderstorms move east from the Appalachians through Louisiana and Mississippi during the morning hours. Some storms will weaken briefly when the sun rises but they will regain strength throughout the afternoon. A wide swath of 100 million East Coast residents from Boston to New Orleans face danger on Monday evening but the threats will vary per area. The Northeast will experience the worst damage from winds while a broad segment of the South spanning from the mid-Atlantic to the Gulf Coast will encounter a triple threat of hail and tornadoes and high winds.
The severe weather system will maintain its presence from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast during the night before moving out to sea on Tuesday morning. People who live in danger zones should remain updated and ready because this intense weather system is developing.