Severe Storms In Midwest, Southeast Today
Another round of severe weather is forecast in parts of the South, Midwest and East Sunday into Monday with a threat of widespread damaging winds and a few tornadoes from Texas to the East Coast.
No, this isn’t the movie “Groundhog Day.” For the third time this month, a rash of severe thunderstorms is in the forecast, affecting some areas that have been hit repeatedly by severe weather in one or both of the previous outbreaks from March 5-8 and March 10-12.
This latest severe outbreak will happen on the warm side of an upper Midwest blizzard, named Winter Storm Iona by The Weather Channel.
This round of severe weather is expected to be somewhat different than the last two, however. Instead of strong tornadoes, the expectation is that winds will play a much bigger role in this event.
The take from the Storm Prediction Center: “A widespread damaging wind event with some tornado threat is likely late Sunday afternoon through Sunday night from northeast Texas to southwest Lower Michigan.”
(FORECAST: Upper Midwest Blizzard This Weekend Into Monday)
Sunday
By Sunday afternoon, severe thunderstorms will become numerous from parts of the Midwest to the South, taking the form of a squall line, a long line of severe thunderstorms. Damaging winds over 75 mph are expected within this squall line, with a locally higher damaging wind threat existing from Evansville, Indiana, to just west of Memphis, Tennessee. Some embedded tornadoes are becoming increasingly likely, and there is even a chance for a strong tornado of EF2 or greater.
Sunday night, this squall line will then surge east across the Ohio Valley, lower Mississippi Valley and Tennessee Valley through the easternmost areas covered in severe threat in the map below.
Monday
As the cold front from the intense Great Lakes low surges east, thunderstorms with damaging winds will likely be widespread Monday across much of the East, from north Florida to the Northeast.
For now, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center has highlighted the area with the highest chance of severe weather from parts of the mid-Atlantic states to the Carolinas.
However, this damaging wind threat could extend through the Appalachians and entire Northeast from Monday morning through Monday night. It could accompany the squall line in the Northeast even if that section of the squall line is just a band of heavy rain without lightning.
Even a few tornadoes are possible Monday, either embedded in the squall line, or in any discrete rotating thunderstorms that could flare up ahead of the line.
Power outages and tree damage could be widespread in the East Monday and Monday night.
Prepare Now
– Prepare for a possible power outage, especially if it’s forecast to turn cold after the storm.
– Have multiple ways of receiving official National Weather Service watches and warnings including via smartphone and NOAA weather radio. Make sure alerts are enabled so you can be awakened, if sleeping.
– Know where to seek shelter when a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning is issued. If you live in a manufactured home, a community storm shelter, a nearby home or other substantial building is the safest choice.
– Move to shelter immediately when a warning is issued. Don’t waste precious seconds looking out the window.
– Take severe thunderstorm warnings as seriously as tornado warnings. Winds over 60 mph are capable of downing trees on vehicles, homes and buildings, an underrated danger in high wind events.
(MORE: 14 Severe Weather Safety Tips)
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
