Another Bullseye of Severe Weather Placed Over Midwest | WeatherBug
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Another Bullseye of Severe Weather Placed Over Midwest

May 14, 2022
UPDATED By WeatherBug Meteorologists
After a devastating day of severe weather, additional thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds and large hail will be possible once more across the Upper Midwest today. The main threat area stretches from Oklahoma City to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
 
Thanks to a crawling cold front that will travel across the Mississippi Valley and Ark-La-Tex tonight, robust showers and thunderstorms will be possible along this front. Warm, humid air streaming from the Gulf of Mexico will aide in the development ahead of the front, with storms potentially lingering overnight into Saturday morning.
 
The Storm Prediction Center has placed a Slight Risk for severe thunderstorms across the Plains and Middle Mississippi Valley. This means that areas from central Oklahoma, Missouri and western Illinois are at risk for these strong storms. Gusty winds associated with the storms could exceed 50 mph and large hail are the main threats, mainly for cities such as Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Okla., and Springfield, Mo. Cities such as St. Louis, Kansas, Mo., and Green Bay, Wisc., and New Orleans are all at risk of seeing a a few robust storms too.

Currently there is a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for Central Oklahoma which includes the cities of Chickasha, Watonga, and Duncan in the state. Tennis ball sized hail was already reported near Ringwood, Okla. earlier. 
 
This evening's weather follows what has been an active week of severe weather. Nearly 100 wind and another 100 hail reports were reported on Wednesday while over 250 wind reports were made on Thursday. This includes a gust report of 79 mph near Morristown, Minn., and baseball sized hail in Big Lake, Minn., on Wednesday. Baseball-sized hail was reported in De Witt, Neb., and Lincoln, Kan., recorded egg-sized hail. A gust to 107 mph was reported near Tripp, S.D., while Lake Cochran, S.D., recorded gusts to 102 mph on Thursday. Madison, Minn., recorded gusts to 94 mph, while Wentworth, S.D., recorded gusts to 96 mph.

More than 15,000 people remain without power in eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota combined, with over 40,000 reported in Minnesota alone. Storms raced across these areas Thursday evening which led to the massive outages.  A roof at the Garfield Co., Neb., fairgrounds was ripped off, and 25 trees were uprooted.

Be sure to know the difference between a watch and a warning, should any be issued. A watch means that all the ingredients for severe weather to take place are there, while a warning indicates that the severe weather has already formed, and you should take action to keep your friends and family safe.