Rogue thunderstorms, dangerous winds forecast for Plains

July 28 (UPI) -- A wide swath of the country is facing a chance of potentially dangerous thunderstorms as the work week gets underway.

Storms will roll across the Plains states and into the Midwest, some with potentially damaging winds and hail, meteorologists predicted Sunday.

The heat dome that has baked the western United States is expected to shift, meaning hotter temperatures in the southern and central Plains states. That shift will fuel the thunderstorms, forecasters said, which could persist well into the week and stretch into the first part of August.

"The weather pattern this week is expected to feature similar characteristics to what was observed back on July 15 across the Midwest, which ultimately ended up producing a powerful derecho across Iowa and northern Illinois," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said.

The hot and humid air allows the severe weather fronts to "reload" and continue to bring strong storms to the region, which are typical for this time of year, but which can create damaging, rogue storms within a matter of just a few hours or less.

Meteorologists say the conditions could exist for storms that will produce winds of up to 95 miles per hour.

People in a stretch from the Dakotas to Wisconsin to Illinois should be prepared for dangerous and powerful storms, they said. People should also be on the lookout for flash floods.