A full week of dangerous weather in the Central US started with multiple tornadoes and huge hail battering parts of four states Monday. Multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms will threaten the region through Friday.
Tornado activity picked up early Monday evening with confirmed twisters in eastern Kansas, northern Iowa, southern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin.
Nearly softball-sized hail fell south of Minneapolis and damaging winds toppled power lines and trees in northeast Illinois as severe storms took shape Monday afternoon.
About a dozen states from Texas to the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes will see a threat of severe storms on one or more days through Friday. The threat zone will shift each day depending on where surges of jet stream energy overlap with warm, humid air to trigger intense thunderstorm development.
The barrage of storms will also raise flooding concerns, especially where rivers are already running high in water-logged northern Michigan and northern Wisconsin.
Tornadoes and giant hail
Monday’s most intense severe storms produced several tornadoes in eastern Kansas and dropped hail ranging in size from golf balls to softballs across southern Minnesota and central Wisconsin, which also saw tornadoes.
Multiple buildings were “demolished” after a tornado touched down in Kansas’ Linn County, Randy Hegwald, the county’s emergency management director, told CNN. A lake community southeast of Mound City “took a direct hit,” but only a few minor injuries have been reported, Hegwald said.
About 45 miles north, a tornado impacted dozens in the city of Hillsdale, Miami County Undersheriff Matthew Kelly told CNN. One minor injury has been reported, and emergency officials are working to arrange shelter for those displaced from their homes.
The storm also caused structural damage in nearby Ottawa, most of which was without power Monday night, according to Franklin County Emergency Management.
Senator Jerry Moran, who represents Kansas, said he was “hearing reports of potential tornado damage” in Ottawa and urged residents to heed warnings from weather officials.
Timing the severe storms
Going forward, the biggest concern continues to be large hail, which could dent cars, shatter windshields and damage roofs. The storms could also produce a few more tornadoes and winds strong enough to down trees and power lines.
The storm threat zone spans from West Texas into Oklahoma and the Great Lakes.
Chicago, Milwaukee and Des Moines, Iowa, are under a Level 3 of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms that includes more than 14 million people.
The supercell thunderstorms that fire up in this corridor by late afternoon could have damaging hail the size of limes or bigger. A few tornadoes are also possible and they have the potential to be strong — rated EF2 or higher.
Strong winds capable of knocking out power and damaging or even uprooting trees are also possible as the storms blast eastward into the evening across Michigan and northern parts of Ohio and Indiana.
Wednesday is expected to bring yet another round of strong storms, but Tuesday’s leftover storms could affect how potent the threat becomes — the longer they stick around, the less time the sun has to heat the air and provide energy for new storms. Either way, wind damage and hail appear to be the biggest concerns rather than tornadoes.
And that’s not the end of this daily onslaught.
One more surge of jet stream energy will fire up a final round of potent thunderstorms on Friday, especially from Oklahoma to Iowa, but it’s too soon to determine how big of a punch they will pack.
The storm-weary central US will finally get a breather over the weekend because of a weather pattern change that will also usher in a temperature drop.
