Severe Storm Threatens Central US With Heavy Rains, Tornadoes

Heavy rain, severe thunderstorms and the risk of tornadoes are threatening more than 40 million people from Michigan to Texas as a slow-moving cold front hovers over the region.

There’s a rare high risk for damaging winds and long-lasting powerful tornadoes to break out in a smaller area from southern Illinois to northeastern Arkansas Wednesday, including Memphis, the US Storm Prediction Center said. In addition, the severe thunderstorms will kick off days of heavy rain across the central US, said Frank Pereira, a senior branch forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center.

“It’s a pretty dangerous situation for multiple aspects of severe weather,” Pereira said in an interview. “That area is under-the-gun for a lot of things in the next few days. In addition to the potential for widespread severe weather outbreak, there is a chance for heavy, excessive and in some areas historic rainfall.”

As much as 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain or more is forecast to fall across a wide area from Arkansas to southern Indiana in the next five days, according to the center.

Tornado watches were posted early Wednesday from a line across northern Missouri south through Oklahoma, with at least one twister already popping up, the National Weather Service said.

Severe storms can bring dangerous straight-line winds, hail and flooding rains that account for many weather disasters, which cost at least $1 billion or more across the US. The worst have killed 2,145 people and caused $514.3 billion in damages and losses since 1980, according to the US National Centers for Environmental Information. Last year saw 17 outbreaks of severe storms that left $46.8 billion in losses and 51 deaths. Such storms also are known to touch off widespread power outages and can disrupt travel.

A low pressure system across the Great Lakes region will bring snow and ice across parts of the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin and leave behind a cold front that will drape across the central US and western Ohio Valley, Pereira said. The front will stay stuck in the region through the weekend.