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Severe Threat Escalates Heading Into Weekend

March 28, 2020
UPDATED By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Andrew Rosenthal
Thunderstorms are blooming across the Mississippi Valley this evening, just a precursor to a much larger outbreak on Saturday.
 
The storms are the result of low pressure coming together in the southern Plains. Warm and humid air is bubbling north through Oklahoma and Arkansas into Missouri, where it is doing battle against cooler and drier air making its way out of the western Plains. The result has been strong to severe thunderstorms with a history of hail to the size of tennis balls carving a path from eastern Oklahoma into southern Missouri. 
 
As the evening progresses, storms will continue to expand eastward into the Mississippi and lower Ohio Valley. Cities such as Kansas City and St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Springfield, Ill., are at risk to see severe thunderstorms that could bring hail to the size of baseballs and wind gusts as high as 65 mph.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect for west-central Illinois and east-central Missouri until 4 a.m. CDT for large hail and wind gusts up to 60 mph.
 
The threat tonight pales in comparison to Saturday, when a stronger threat for severe thunderstorms exists across the Mid-Mississippi Valley. Strong to perhaps violent, long-track tornadoes are possible in parts of Illinois and Indiana, in addition to damaging wind gusts up to 70 or 80 mph and hail as large as baseballs.
 
Please be sure to have a way to receive important weather watches and warnings. Use a NOAA weather radio, check back with WeatherBug.com, or monitor local television forecasts for more information.

Understand the difference between a watch and a warning. A watch means conditions are highly favorable for dangerous weather, and you should have a plan in place for acting. A warning means that dangerous weather has been observed, and you need to act quickly to protect life and property.