Severe Storms Thrash Great Plains to Mid-Atlantic

Multiple severe thunderstorm systems are expected to form today, running from the northern Plains to the Mid-Atlantic.

South of a stalled front that is drawn over the heart of the Midwest, an unusually swift upper-level air pattern is pairing with humid, heated air to launch complexes of thunderstorms.

One complex of severe thunderstorms is already ongoing, born from Monday's severe activity and surviving overnight into the Ohio Valley and central Appalachia. Through the course of the day, multiple other severe thunderstorm lines and complexes, including an ongoing derecho, are expected to emerge along an alley from the Lower Midwest to the Lower Mid-Atlantic.

The government's Storm Prediction Center has issued a Slight Risk, a 2 out of 5 on the severe weather probability scale, expanding from northern Illinois to western North Carolina and central Virginia, including Indianapolis, Ind., Louisville, Ky., Charleston, W.V., Roanoke, Va., and Winston-Salem, N.C. Damaging winds are possible for these locations, with even more sparse severe activity is possible in the Lower Mid-Atlantic and Southeast this evening and overnight.

Additionally, Flood Watches have been posted from northern and central Indiana into West Virginia, southwestern Virginia, and far northwestern North Carolina.

The multiple rounds of heavy rainfall associated with severe thunderstorm lines today, which would amount to 2 to 4 inches of daily rainfall in localized areas, will bring flooding concerns to low-lying, urban, and poor-drainage areas. Remember, "Turn Around, Don't Drown!"

Not too far northwest, a separate alley of isolated severe thunderstorms, mainly taking the form of supercells, is likely in the northern Plains. Storms forming here have the ingredients for not only damaging wind gusts, but for large hail that could exceed two inches in diameter as well.

As such, there is a separate Slight Risk for north-central Nebraska and northwestern Iowa to south-central North Dakota, covering cities and towns including Valentine, Neb., Rapid City, S.D., Bismarck, N.D., and Sioux City, Iowa.

Severe Thunderstorm Watches are also present across southern North Dakota as well as western and northern South Dakota.

Severe thunderstorm risks will continue into the workweek, sinking southward on Wednesday into the central Plains and Southeast as well.

Be sure to know the difference between a watch and a warning. A watch means that the conditions are in place to possibly produce severe weather conditions, while a warning indicates that those conditions are currently occurring. Be sure to have multiple ways to receive warnings, as storms will be occurring late tonight. Also, take caution if you are outdoors during a thunderstorm. Remember, “When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!”