Rounds of severe thunderstorms may have damaging consequences in central US

Multiple waves of thunderstorms will continue to prowl the central United States into Thursday with the potential for some damaging thunderstorm complexes to cover hundreds of miles.

An area from the eastern part of the Dakotas to Kentucky and portions of Tennessee will remain a hot spot for thunderstorms and the likelihood of rounds of severe weather this week, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.

Some locations may be affected by one thunderstorm every day through Thursday. Others may be blasted by multiple storms per day. However, the potential exists for severe thunderstorms to roll through some communities, which can be damaging.

In less than 12 hours, Des Moines, Iowa, was blasted by two rounds of severe thunderstorms on Tuesday morning. Gusts close to 60 mph occurred in the first round before daybreak but gusts close to 50 mph occurred in the storms during the midday hours. Des Moines was hit again Tuesday night with storms packing high winds, hail and torrential rain. Nearly 3.50 inches of rain fell from midnight to 6 a.m., local time, on Wednesday.

Multiple thunderstorm complexes occurred across parts of the Midwest and into the Tennessee Valley Tuesday and Tuesday night, bringing damaging wind gusts, flooding downpours and hail to the area.

Along with long-lasting thunderstorm complexes capable of causing torrential rain, strong wind gusts and some hail, there is the potential for a much stronger, long-lived thunderstorm complex known as a derecho.

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A derecho may be declared if there are consistent reports of damaging wind gusts of 58 mph or greater along a path of at least 400 miles. For some people who experience a derecho, it may seem like a hurricane, with wind gusts sometimes reaching past 73 mph along with torrential rain and flash flooding.

The AccuWeather Local StormMax™wind gust for rounds of severe weather through Wednesday night is 95 mph.

"The period Wednesday evening through Wednesday night may represent the greatest potential for a derecho with a moderate risk of severe weather from southeastern North Dakota, eastern South Dakota, eastern Nebraska and northeastern Kansas southern Minnesota and much of Iowa," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.

Should a derecho form in part of this area, it could survive through late Wednesday night and into Thursday as it travels to the east and southeast.

Regardless of a derecho lasting hundreds of miles or complexes of thunderstorms that only last dozens of miles, there is a heightened risk of powerful wind gusts that are capable of pushing over large numbers of trees and knocking out power on a local to regional level.

A small number of the most intense storms may produce hail as large as baseballs. Severe thunderstorms can occasionally produce a brief tornado. Since some of the storms may survive through the night, vivid lightning and loud thunder may keep some people awake and stress household pets.

On Thursday, a broad area of the Midwest will have some risk of severe weather from Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri to western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and western Virginia. Portions of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio will have a moderate risk of severe weather where storms can be more numerous. Thursday's AccuWeather Local StormMax™ wind gust is 80 mph.

As storms erupt and pass through airport locations, ground stops will result and can lead to lengthy airline delays. The highest chance of a severe thunderstorm in Chicago will be from late Wednesday night to Thursday evening.

Even outside of the prime threat zones for severe weather, heavy and gusty thunderstorms will roam portions of the southeastern and northeastern United States.

For much of this week, a heat dome over the central and southern Plains will help to set off the thunderstorms, which erupt on the northern and northeastern rim of the hot air.

During this weekend to next week, the heat dome will broaden and extend farther west.

This change in the shape of the heat dome will shift the areas most likely to experience multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms. The active zone is likely to extend from the Great Lakes to the mid-Atlantic and perhaps New England.

However, portions of the northern Plains and the Ohio Valley may also remain active with multiple opportunities for showers and thunderstorms.

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