--- title: Big Storm Outbreak Peppers Middle Miss. Valley to Ohio Valley | WeatherBug | WeatherBug description: Repeated waves of dangerous thunderstorms will remain on the weather menu throughout tonight. canonical: https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Severe-Storms-Target-the-North og:title: Big Storm Outbreak Peppers Middle Miss. Valley to Ohio Valley | WeatherBug | WeatherBug og:description: Repeated waves of dangerous thunderstorms will remain on the weather menu throughout tonight. og:url: https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Severe-Storms-Target-the-North og:site_name: WeatherBug og:locale: en_US og:image: https://cms-assets-con.cdn.weatherbug.net/assets/contentitems/ea/eadf9289-1be7-489d-9cf5-0173bcfb46b6/52e0ce98-d40a-4283-82d1-d0fe816ebf4b/e6928dd5-9867-45f8-8032-4ace6853b0e2.jpg og:image:width: 800 og:image:height: 600 og:image:alt: Today's Severe Weather Outlook og:type: article article:published_time: 2025-05-17T07:08:16Z article:modified_time: 2025-05-17T07:08:16Z article:author: Updated By WeatherBug Certified Digital Meteorologist, Fred Allen article:tag: hail article:tag: map article:tag: maps article:tag: Midwest article:tag: "Ohio Valley" article:tag: severe article:tag: storms article:tag: "Tennessee Valley" article:tag: tornado twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Big Storm Outbreak Peppers Middle Miss. Valley to Ohio Valley | WeatherBug twitter:description: Repeated waves of dangerous thunderstorms will remain on the weather menu throughout tonight. twitter:image: https://cms-assets-con.cdn.weatherbug.net/assets/contentitems/ea/eadf9289-1be7-489d-9cf5-0173bcfb46b6/52e0ce98-d40a-4283-82d1-d0fe816ebf4b/e6928dd5-9867-45f8-8032-4ace6853b0e2.jpg --- [](/weather-forecast/now) [Missing translation for key: backTo forecast](/weather-forecast/now) # Big Storm Outbreak Peppers Middle Miss. Valley to Ohio Valley May 17, 2025 at 03:08 AM EDT Updated By WeatherBug Certified Digital Meteorologist, Fred Allen  Dangerous thunderstorms will remain on the weather menu throughout tonight from the Ohio and Tennessee valleys to the Mid-Atlantic. Damaging wind gusts, large, destructive hail, and a few intense tornadoes will be possible. A large, potent storm system will lumber across Minnesota and the western Great Lakes through tonight. A cold front separating unseasonably warm, humid air from cooler and drier weather is attached to it. This same corridor will be peppered by repeated powerful thunderstorms overnight. **Tornado Watches** remain in effect across portions of northern Alabama and southern and central Tennessee. A **Severe Thunderstorm Watch** remains in effect across southeastern Arkansas into northwestern Mississippi, aas well as across portions of southern West Virginia. The government’s Storm Prediction Center has issued a **_Moderate Risk_** for a severe storm outbreak from far southeastern Missouri to much of Kentucky, and far northern and northwestern Tennessee to far southwestern Ohio. Louisville and Bowling Green, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., to Cincinnati, are included. An **_Enhanced Risk_** surrounds this zone from northeastern Arkansas to much of West Virginia, southwestern Virginia, and as far north as Interstate 70 from Illinois to Ohio. Isolated destructive wind gusts up to 80 mph, very large, damaging hail up to baseball size, and several tornadoes are likely. A few intense tornadoes will be possible, especially across the Lower Ohio Valley. Farther east in the Mid-Atlantic, isolated to scattered damaging wind gusts up to 70 mph and quarter to golf ball size hail will be possible. An isolated tornado cannot be ruled out either. So far today, there have been more than 75 severe weather reports dotting Arkansas and Missouri to Kentucky, West Virginia, southern New Jersey, and the Delmarva Peninsula. Golf ball size hail pelted Ned, Ky., with hail up to baseball size hail falling in Lost Creek, Ky., and Ava, Mo. A 63-mph thunderstorm gust was clocked near Merrimac, Va., with a gust to 60 mph measured near Wiley Ford, W. Va. Make sure to know the difference between a watch and a warning should they be issued. A “watch” means that conditions are favorable for severe weather to occur and to be on alert for any rapidly changing conditions. A “warning” means that severe weather is imminent, and you should act fast to remain safe. The best way to remain safe is to stay prepared and informed about your local weather. Have a severe weather kit packed with a battery-operated radio, water, and non-perishable food items. Also, check the WeatherBug app frequently for any updates on today's severe weather. Remember, "When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!" We use technologies, such as cookies, to analyze your use (i.e., pages visited), to customize content, for our internal analytics purposes and for security and other purposes. By continuing to use this website, you agree to this usage. Please review our [privacy policy](/legal/privacy) for more details as well as for information on how to contact us to object to these activities. [Ad Choices](/legal/privacy#digitaladvertisingandyourchoices) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Severe-Storms-Target-the-North"},"headline":"Big Storm Outbreak Peppers Middle Miss. Valley to Ohio Valley","description":"Repeated waves of dangerous thunderstorms will remain on the weather menu throughout tonight.","image":["https://cms-assets-con.cdn.weatherbug.net/assets/contentitems/ea/eadf9289-1be7-489d-9cf5-0173bcfb46b6/52e0ce98-d40a-4283-82d1-d0fe816ebf4b/e6928dd5-9867-45f8-8032-4ace6853b0e2.jpg"],"datePublished":"2025-05-17T07:08:16Z","dateModified":"2025-05-17T07:08:16Z","dateCreated":"2025-05-17T07:08:16Z","articleSection":"Weather News","keywords":"hail,map,maps,Midwest,\"Ohio Valley\",severe,storms,\"Tennessee Valley\",tornado","articleBody":"Dangerous thunderstorms will remain on the weather menu throughout tonight from the Ohio and Tennessee valleys to the Mid-Atlantic. Damaging wind gusts, large, destructive hail, and a few intense tornadoes will be possible.
\r\n
\r\nA large, potent storm system will lumber across Minnesota and the western Great Lakes through tonight. A cold front separating unseasonably warm, humid air from cooler and drier weather is attached to it. This same corridor will be peppered by repeated powerful thunderstorms overnight.
\r\n
\r\nTornado Watches remain in effect across portions of northern Alabama and southern and central Tennessee. 
\r\n
\r\nA Severe Thunderstorm Watch remains in effect across southeastern Arkansas into northwestern Mississippi, aas well as across portions of southern West Virginia. 
\r\n
\r\nThe government’s Storm Prediction Center has issued a Moderate Risk for a severe storm outbreak from far southeastern Missouri to much of Kentucky, and far northern and northwestern Tennessee to far southwestern Ohio. Louisville and Bowling Green, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., to Cincinnati, are included. An Enhanced Risk surrounds this zone from northeastern Arkansas to much of West Virginia, southwestern Virginia, and as far north as Interstate 70 from Illinois to Ohio.
\r\n
\r\nIsolated destructive wind gusts up to 80 mph, very large, damaging hail up to baseball size, and several tornadoes are likely. A few intense tornadoes will be possible, especially across the Lower Ohio Valley.
\r\n
\r\nFarther east in the Mid-Atlantic, isolated to scattered damaging wind gusts up to 70 mph and quarter to golf ball size hail will be possible. An isolated tornado cannot be ruled out either.
\r\n
\r\nSo far today, there have been more than 75 severe weather reports dotting Arkansas and Missouri to Kentucky, West Virginia, southern New Jersey, and the Delmarva Peninsula. Golf ball size hail pelted Ned, Ky., with hail up to baseball size hail falling in Lost Creek, Ky., and Ava, Mo. A 63-mph thunderstorm gust was clocked near Merrimac, Va., with a gust to 60 mph measured near Wiley Ford, W. Va.
\r\n
\r\nMake sure to know the difference between a watch and a warning should they be issued. A “watch” means that conditions are favorable for severe weather to occur and to be on alert for any rapidly changing conditions. A “warning” means that severe weather is imminent, and you should act fast to remain safe.
\r\n
\r\nThe best way to remain safe is to stay prepared and informed about your local weather. Have a severe weather kit packed with a battery-operated radio, water, and non-perishable food items. Also, check the WeatherBug app frequently for any updates on today's severe weather. Remember, \"When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!\"","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Updated By WeatherBug Certified Digital Meteorologist, Fred Allen","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"WeatherBug","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com/images/sharing/f1ff28ba-6f06-4745-a782-011a20397e16.png"}}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebSite","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Severe-Storms-Target-the-North","relatedLink":"https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Severe-Storms-Target-the-North"},"name":"WeatherBug","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Severe-Storms-Target-the-North","headline":"Big Storm Outbreak Peppers Middle Miss. Valley to Ohio Valley","description":"Repeated waves of dangerous thunderstorms will remain on the weather menu throughout tonight.","dateModified":"2025-05-17T07:08:16Z","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"WeatherBug","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/WeatherBug","https://instagram.com/WeatherBug","https://www.linkedin.com/company/weatherbug","https://www.pinterest.com/weatherbug","https://twitter.com/WeatherBug","https://www.youtube.com/user/WeatherBugVideo"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com/images/logos/weatherbug_logo_620x447.png"}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"WeatherBug","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/WeatherBug","https://instagram.com/WeatherBug","https://www.linkedin.com/company/weatherbug","https://www.pinterest.com/weatherbug","https://twitter.com/WeatherBug","https://www.youtube.com/user/WeatherBugVideo"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com/images/logos/weatherbug_logo_620x447.png"}}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"WeatherBug","logo":"https://www.weatherbug.com/images/logos/weatherbug_logo_620x447.png","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/WeatherBug","https://instagram.com/WeatherBug","https://www.linkedin.com/company/weatherbug","https://www.pinterest.com/weatherbug","https://twitter.com/WeatherBug","https://www.youtube.com/user/WeatherBugVideo"]} ```