Thursday, June 14, 2012

Severe Weather Threat From Central Plains to Northern Mississippi Valley Today...


Severe thunderstorms are forecast across a fairly large area extending from the central Plains into the northern Mississippi Valley region today, as indicated by the yellow shaded area on the above image.  There is also a risk of severe storms over southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana.

The greatest threat today will be that of large hail, potentially very large in some areas.  The atmosphere across the Plains and Upper Mississippi Valley region is forecast to become extremely unstable this afternoon, which will support the production of very large hail in many storms.  Hailstones may exceed 2 inches in diameter in some places, especially within the red shaded and black hatched areas on the image below:


There is also a threat for damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes, with the tornado threat being highest across the northern Mississippi Valley region, especially during the first few hours of thunderstorm initiation when storms are more isolated.  This tornado threat includes the Minneapolis area.

Across southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana, a few thunderstorms may become severe this afternoon and evening, with large hail and locally damaging wind gusts the primary threat.


If you live across the severe weather threat areas for today, please remain alert.  Listen to NOAA Weather Radio, local media or another trusted source for the latest information and forecasts.  Be prepared to seek shelter quickly if threatening weather is observed or a warning is issued for your area.



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