The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts that more than 40 million Americans in the Central United States may face severe weather this week. The adverse weather poses possible disruptive and life-threatening threats, particularly severe tornadoes.
Beginning Tuesday, April 16, the impacted region may see a variety of weather risks, including scattered severe thunderstorms throughout northern Missouri, Iowa, and northwestern Illinois. Similar meteorological conditions may develop as far as the southern states, according to the NOAA.
The most recent weather forecast comes after the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a severe thunderstorm warning for sections of the Eastern US on Monday, April 15.
This week, the NWS forecasts tornadoes, destructive winds, and huge hail in areas ranging from the upper Ohio Valley to the Northeast United States.
According to the NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC), the coming adverse weather poses a risk to many states in the Central United States, including Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
In its convective outlook on Tuesday, the NOAA estimated that the severe weather threat hovering above the Central US could impact a total of approximately 42.3 million people in the following locations:
The prediction center warns the severe weather in the affected regions and their surrounding areas could produce severe hazards, including a tornado outbreak risk. This can happen even if severe storms are isolated, the SPC explains.
Earlier in April, a tornado outbreak from Texas to Florida killed 14 people, prompting the issue of severe weather warnings. At least one person died in Mississippi as a result of flash floods caused by heavy rain and violent thunderstorms along the US Gulf Coast.
Tornado outbreaks have been more common in recent years, according to scientists. In a 2016 study published in the journal Science, researchers discovered that the frequency of tornado outbreaks and the number of highly destructive tornado occurrences in the United States have increased over the last 50 years.
In 2011, a colossal EF-5 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, resulted in the deaths of 158 people and injuries of more than 1,100 others. It is one of the deadliest tornadoes in US history since recordings started as early as 1643.
