On Wednesday, severe thunderstorms threatened the Midwest and South, prompting forecasters to issue warnings about potentially fatal flash floods, powerful tornadoes, and large hail.
The National Weather Service reported at least one tornado sighting near Salina, Kansas, approximately 90 miles north of Wichita, on Tuesday night.
The Weather Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service, warned that the strong storm system was expected to bring the risk of “significant, life-threatening flash flooding” starting Wednesday.
The new flood threat emerged as communities in parts of Michigan were still recovering from a recent ice storm.
Floods could inundate towns, sweep cars away
Forecasts predicted multiple rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms in parts of Texas, the lower Mississippi Valley, and the Ohio Valley from midweek through Saturday. Forecasters cautioned that these storms could repeatedly impact the same areas, leading to heavy rainfall and dangerous flash floods capable of carrying away vehicles.
The weather service identified parts of Arkansas, western Tennessee, western Kentucky, and southern Indiana as being at particularly high risk for flooding.
The weather service also warned of potential rainfall totals of up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) over the next week in northeastern Arkansas, the southeastern corner of Missouri, western Kentucky, and southern areas of Illinois and Indiana.
Tornadoes observed and more could be coming
The weather service confirmed at least one tornado observation in Kansas on Tuesday night.
The National Weather Service office in Wichita urged residents to “Take cover now!” via social media platform X.
Forecasters indicated that overnight storms could generate tornadoes in Oklahoma and additional tornadoes in Kansas.
The potential for very large hail and severe wind gusts also exists. The area facing the greatest risk of a strong tornado includes Oklahoma City; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Wichita, Kansas. The risk of large hail extends from Fort Worth, Texas, to Kansas City.
43 million people at risk for severe weather
A large area spanning from northeast Texas to Michigan is predicted to experience the possibility of high winds and tornadoes on Wednesday. This high-risk zone includes 43 million people and numerous major cities, such as Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Memphis, Tennessee.
Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Nashville, Tennessee, are also susceptible to severe storms on Wednesday.
Rainfall could be a once-in-a-quarter-century event
Thomas Jones, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Little Rock, Arkansas, stated on Monday, “We’re potentially looking at about two months of rain in just a handful of days.”
Eastern and northeastern Arkansas could experience rainfall levels only expected once every 25 to 50 years.
Jones described the predicted heavy rainfall as rare, explaining that moisture from the Gulf was increasing the amount of precipitation the thunderstorms could produce.
Wintry mix blasts Upper Midwest
In Michigan, crews worked to restore power on Tuesday following a weekend ice storm that brought down trees and power poles. According to PowerOutage.us, which monitors outages nationwide, over 144,000 customers in Michigan and nearly 15,000 in Wisconsin were without power on Tuesday night.
In Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, schools in several counties were closed for a second consecutive day on Tuesday. Sheriff’s deputies used chainsaws to clear roadways, and drivers waited in long lines at gas stations.
More wintry weather is expected: the weather service predicted that a mix of sleet and freezing rain could make roads dangerous into Wednesday across parts of Michigan and Wisconsin.
Heavy, wet snow was forecast into Wednesday across the eastern Dakotas and parts of Minnesota.
—Associated Press Writers Isabella O’Malley in Philadelphia; Ed White in Detroit; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
“`