Another severe weather outbreak, including a threat of strong tornadoes, is once again forecast in parts of the South, Midwest and East, including areas still recovering from damaging storms late last week.
The National Weather Service already confirmed at least 18 tornadoes from last Thursday through Saturday, from Texas to Michigan. That included four killer tornadoes, two each in Michigan and Oklahoma.
The map below shows where current watches and warnings are in effect.
Here is our latest daily forecast for this week's second chapter of severe weather.
Monday
Monday, the severe weather threat is focused from parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Hail, possibly golf ball size or larger, is the main threat with these storms. Strong wind gusts, tornadoes and locally flooding rain are lower threats, but are also possible.
Tuesday
The tornado threat looks to be highest Tuesday afternoon and evening in parts of Texas and the Midwest. The Storm Prediction Center have an enhanced risk of severe storms, their level 3 of 5, stretching from northwestern Missouri to northern Indiana. On Monday afternoon, they upgraded central Texas to an enhanced risk as well.
Starting with the Southern Plains, we expect severe thunderstorms to flare up Tuesday afternoon, where hail larger than golf balls, gusts over 74 mph and tornadoes, some of which could be EF2 or greater, are possible. The greatest threat for all of these are in Texas.
By late afternoon or early evening, severe thunderstorms are expected to become more numerous in parts of the Mississippi Valley and western Great Lakes, especially from Missouri and southeast Iowa to Illinois, northern Indiana and southern Michigan. Tornadoes, some of which could be at leastEF2 intensity, large hail greater than 2 inches in diameter and damaging wind gusts are possible.
This severe threat could last through the night in spots from the western Great Lakes to Texas. There will also be a threat of locally flooding rain.
Wednesday
We expect there will be thunderstorms in progress in the morning from the eastern Great Lake to the Ohio Valley to eastern Texas.
In general, Wednesday's primary severe threat will be damaging thunderstorm wind gusts from parts of the Appalachians and interior Northeast to eastern Texas.
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But a few tornadoes are still possible, along with locally heavy rain.
Thunderstorms, some of which may be severe, will persist into the night in the Southeast from the Tennessee Valley to the northern Gulf Coast.
Thursday, at least a few severe thunderstorms are possible near the Southeast coast and Florida before the cold front sweeps through.
(MAPS:7-Day US Rain/Snow Forecast)
Flood Threat
Along with the severe threat, these storms will also bring heavy rainfall. Some of these areas saw heavy rainfall from last week's storms, so rain will be falling on already-soggy soil in some cases.
Another 1-3 inches of rainfall is possible, with higher totals expected across areas where slow-moving storms train over the same location for a few hours.
Prepared, Not Scared
You can stay as safe as possible during severe thunderstorms by following these general tips:
- Have multiple ways of receiving official watches and warnings from the National Weather Service, including fromyour smartphoneand fromNOAA weather radio. Make sure your smartphone and NOAA weather radio are fully charged and notifications are turned on, in case a warning is issued while you're sleeping.
- Before a storm threatens, determine where the best place to take shelter is when a warning is issued where you live. If you live in a manufactured home, you should consider where the nearest community storm shelter or nearby home is that you can get to quickly.
- When a warning is issued, take shelter immediately, including for severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. Don't waste precious time looking out a window. Some tornadoes are hidden by rain or may not be visible at night if lightning isn't frequent enough.
(MORE:14 Things You Should Know About Severe Weather)
Rob Shackelfordis a meteorologist and climate scientist at weather.com. He received his undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Georgia studying meteorology and experimenting with alternative hurricane forecasting tools.
