Two separate weather systems will bring severe storms to more than a dozen states this weekend, some of the same ones that were hit Friday night.
The system that brought over 150 severe storm reports to the central Plains on Friday will now push east on Saturday.
All severe weather hazards will be possible including damaging winds, hail, and tornadoes.
“Severe thunderstorms associated with a threat for wind damage and isolated large hail are possible on Saturday from the mid-Mississippi Valley northward into the western Great Lakes,” the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) said.
A level 2 out of 5 “slight” risk of severe storms has been issued and includes over 15 million people from Wisconsin to Arkansas, including Chicago and Indianapolis.
The best chance for severe storms to occur across this region will be in the afternoon and evening hours when the heating of the day has peaked.
While flooding may not be the primary concern with these storms, it is still something that needs to be monitored.
“The system as a whole should be undergoing weakening by this time, so most heavy rainfall ingredients should be on the decline as well,” the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) said. “With that said, we should have pretty good rainfall coverage and enough instability to support some locally intense rainfall rates.”
Widespread rainfall to of 1 to 2 inches are forecast but some localized areas could see 3 to 4 inches of rain through the weekend.
“So while not currently expecting any major/widespread flooding to evolve, localized issues are a possibility,” the WPC said.
By Sunday, this first system will continue to shift east into the mid-Atlantic region.
Severe storms will be possible from western Pennsylvania down to the Virginia/Tennessee border in the latter half of the weekend. The primary threat will be damaging winds.
Double trouble for Texas
There will also be a new system moving through areas of Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma on Sunday, but before that system arrives, gusty winds will have already kicked up triggering an increased fire risk. -CNN