A new round of severe thunderstorms is hitting parts of the central United States that were hit by hurricane-force winds, tornadoes and hail on Wednesday.
The first phase of Thursday’s threat, with storms with wind gusts of 70 to 90 mph already hitting Iowa, could be even more severe than Wednesday’s.
A 54-year-old man died Thursday after being struck by a tree in Des Moines, Iowa, according to a news release from the city’s police department. As the storm battered the city, trees snapped and fell on homeless encampments. Police are working to confirm the man’s identity.
A relatively rare Level 4/5 severe thunderstorm threat was issued Thursday for eastern Iowa, northern Illinois and far southern Wisconsin, including Chicago, giving those affected by Wednesday’s storm no time to catch their breath. These storms could once again bring destructive winds, severe tornadoes, large hail, and heavy rain.
This is the final salvo in an active storm that has seen nearly 1,000 hail reports in the region since Sunday, causing damaging winds and tornadoes.
Wednesday’s storm threatened many of the same areas as Thursday, making it one of the five most active severe storm days of the year. Powerful storms with damaging winds exceeding 130 mph struck Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan in the afternoon and evening, causing widespread damage and knocking out power to more than 400,000 homes and businesses, according to PowerOutage.us. More than 1,000 flights were delayed or canceled at Chicago-area airports, according to FlightAware.
Strong winds also partially tore off the roof of an apartment building in the Chicago area, forcing residents to leave, according to NBC 5 Chicago.
During a second storm later that day, multiple tornadoes struck northern Missouri and southern Iowa.
Thursday’s storm will arrive in multiple waves, similar to Wednesday’s.
Severe thunderstorms continued Thursday morning, with wind gusts of 70 to 90 mph across Iowa. These storms are likely to move east across parts of southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois into the mid-afternoon.
Damaging wind gusts of up to 70 mph are the main threat from this early storm, but hail and isolated strong tornadoes cannot be ruled out.
A second round of severe storms will develop in the afternoon just behind the first storm in the Midwest and extend further south into the Plains along a cold front.
Some of these storms have the potential to become supercells, increasing the likelihood of producing stronger, longer-lasting tornadoes. Tornadoes in eastern Iowa, northern Illinois, and southernmost Wisconsin could be EF3 or larger. Larger than lime hail and more severe wind gusts are also possible in the area.
The storm will move east into a widespread line in the late afternoon and evening, reducing the tornado risk somewhat but increasing the threat of damaging winds.
Storms from the Midwest and Great Lakes to parts of the Central Plains could produce damaging wind gusts of 125 mph or more. Winds this strong can easily damage trees and power lines, sending debris into the air.
Chicago and Milwaukee are among the cities that could be affected by both storms, depending on where you track them.
Damaging wind gusts are also possible in St. Louis, Indianapolis and Detroit, but these storms may not reach the same ferocity.
The storm will mostly subside in the central United States by late Thursday night. Some storms are still active Friday morning and could move toward the Appalachians.
The storm pattern also increases the risk of flash flooding, especially in the Midwest. A Level 2/4 flood risk was issued Thursday for parts of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota, including Chicago, the Weather Prediction Center said.
Rainfall from Thursday’s storm could reach 2 inches per hour at times. This is more than enough to cause flooding problems, especially when the rain falls on already wet ground. Urban areas and areas with poor drainage are also particularly susceptible to these torrential rains.
