Sunlight filters through storm clouds onto a wind turbine as severe weather rolls through the midwest on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, south of Stuart, Iowa. Strong storms, likely including tornadoes, are expected to hit parts of the Midwest and South beginning Tuesday evening.
A statue of a knight stands in one of the city's neighborhoods that was damaged by a recent tornado on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Sullivan, Ind.
Volunteers clean up at Wynne High School, Saturday, April 1, 2023, near the front entrance of the school on E. Jackson Avenue in Wynne, Ark., following severe weather the previous night.
FILE - A woman walks near an uprooted tree, a flipped vehicle and debris from homes damaged by a tornado on March 27, 2023, in Rolling Fork, Miss. Gov. Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency Tuesday, April 4, in five north Mississippi counties where severe storms killed one person and damaged hundreds of homes over the weekend.
Kurt Berry clears the sidewalk in front of the Prairie Edge & Sioux Trading Post in downtown Rapid City, S.D., on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. A blizzard warning was in effect for nearly all of North Dakota and most of South Dakota through at least Wednesday night.
Volunteers cut up trees that were down at the corner of E. Bridges Avenue and N. Killough Road in Wynne, Ark., Saturday, April 1, 2023, following severe weather the previous night.
Lineman work to reestablish the power in a neighborhood that was damaged by a recent tornado on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Sullivan, Ind.
Damage is seen at Wynne High School early Saturday, April 1, 2023, in Wynne, Ark., following severe weather the previous night.
Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) talks with the media after touring one of the neighborhoods that was damaged by a recent tornado on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Sullivan, Ind.
In this photo provided by Jessica Garinger, her father, Jim Garinger, fights a fire outside his home built by his great-grandfather, Friday, March 31, 2023, in Guthrie, Okla. Garinger and his family were able to save his family home with the help of firefighters. Extremely dry conditions in Oklahoma combined with high winds to fuel several large wildfires that forced interstate closures and sent residents fleeing from their homes.
In this video screenshot from Minnesota’s EagleCam provided by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, an eagle hunkers down in its nest while being battered by strong winds in Ramsey County, Minn., Sunday, April 2, 2023.
Pam Browne, right, laughs with volunteer Jamie Martin, as they pick out clothing at the Sullivan Community Center, Sunday, April 2, 2023, in Sullivan, Ind., after a tornado moved through the area late Friday.
Cars line up along the road as cleanup continues from Friday's tornado damage, Sunday, April 2, 2023, in west Little Rock, Ark.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, front left, talks with Wynne Mayor Jennifer Hobbs, front right, as they tour storm damage outside the First United Methodist Church in Wynne, Ark., Sunday, April 2, 2023.
An individual pushes their bike through the snow in Rapid City, S.D., on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. A blizzard warning was in effect for nearly all of North Dakota and most of South Dakota through at least Wednesday night.
People make their way down Main Street in downtown Rapid City, S.D., on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. A blizzard warning was in effect for nearly all of North Dakota and most of South Dakota through at least Wednesday night.
A series of plows for the City of Rapid City make their way east along Jackson Boulevard in Rapid City, S.D., on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. A blizzard warning was in effect for nearly all of North Dakota and most of South Dakota through at least Wednesday night.
A pedestrian uses an umbrella for cover as a spring storm packing rain and light snow crossed the intermountain West Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in downtown Denver.
Motorists creep along southbound Interstate 25 at 15th Street as a light snow from a spring storm swept over the intermountain West Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in Denver. Forecasters predict that the storm will move out of the region on Tuesday and over the northern plains states where some locations could see up to two feet of snow.
A pedestrian crosses Colfax Avenue in front of the Larry Kirkland sculpture called East 2 West Source Point outside the south entry of the Wellington Webb Building as a light snow from a spring storm swept over the intermountain West Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in Denver. Forecasters predict that the storm will move out of the region on Tuesday and over the northern plains states where some locations could see up to two feet of snow.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A tornado struck Missouri on Wednesday morning, causing an unknown number of injuries, as severe thunderstorms packing the threat of more hail and tornadoes were forecast across parts of the Midwest and South.
The storms threatened a region that includes portions of the country still reeling from deadly weekend weather. The Storm Prediction Center said up to 40 million people from Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit to Memphis, Tennessee, were at risk for storms later Wednesday, with the greatest threat from lower Michigan, across the middle to lower Ohio River valley and into the mid-South.
Storms were moving Wednesday morning across the Ozarks in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, prompting tornado warnings. The National Weather Service said a tornado struck in Bollinger County in southeastern Missouri on Wednesday morning, causing an unknown number of injuries.
“A tornado definitely touched down, there is damage to homes, we know that, there have been people injured, we don’t know the extent” or if there are fatalities, said meteorologist Justin Gibbs with the weather service in Paducah, Kentucky.
Gibbs said it appears initially that the tornado was on the ground for 15-20 miles (24-32 kilometers) in the area about 90 miles (145 km) south of St. Louis. He said the weather service will send a survey team to the area later Wednesday to assess the damage and determine the strength of the tornado.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol had earlier reported suspected tornado damage with a widespread debris field and some injuries in Bolinger County in the state’s southeast near the communities of Grassy and Marble Hill. Sgt. Clark Parrott of the Missouri State Highway Patrol told KFVS-TV it was not immediately clear how many were injured.
Messages seeking more details on the overnight damage were left by The Associated Press with Missouri Highway Patrol and Bolinger County Sheriff’s office Wednesday morning.
The storms come after severe weather and possibly dozens of tornadoes killed at least 32 people days ago, meaning more potential misery for those whose homes were destroyed in Arkansas, Iowa and Illinois.
The fierce storms started last Friday and continued into the weekend spawned deadly tornadoes in 11 states as the system plodded through Arkansas and onto the South, Midwest and Northeast.
Schools in Little Rock canceled Wednesday's classes because the storms were expected to move through the metro during morning rush hour, KFVS-TV reported.
At least two tornadoes were confirmed Tuesday in Illinois as storms targeted the state and eastern Iowa and southwest Wisconsin before nightfall.
The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings in Iowa and Illinois on Tuesday evening and said a confirmed twister was spotted southwest of Chicago near Bryant, Illinois. Officials said another tornado touched down Tuesday morning in the western Illinois community of Colona. Local news reports showed wind damage to some businesses there.
Earlier Tuesday, strong thunderstorms swept through the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois with winds up to 90 mph (145 kph) and baseball-size hail. No injuries were reported, but trees were downed and some businesses were damaged in Moline, Illinois.
Northern Illinois, from Moline to Chicago, saw 75-80 mph (120-128 kph) winds and hail 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 centimeters) in diameter Tuesday afternoon, National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Baker said. The agency received reports of semitrucks tipped over by winds in Lee County, about 95 miles (153 km) west of Chicago.
The same conditions that fueled those storms — an area of low pressure combined with strong southerly winds — were setting up the severe weather Tuesday into early Wednesday, said Ryan Bunker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
Those conditions, which typically include dry air from the West going up over the Rockies and crashing into warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, are what make the U.S. so prone to tornadoes and other severe storms.
Dramatic temperature changes were taking place, with Tuesday highs of 74 F (23 C) in Des Moines and 86 F (30 C) in Kansas City plunging overnight to 40 F (4 C) or colder overnight. In Little Rock, Arkansas, Tuesday’s high of 89 F (32 C) tied the record for the date set in 1880.
Associated Press writers Trisha Ahmed in St. Paul, Minnesota; Margery A. Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; Claire Savage in Chicago; Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington; and Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, contributed to this report.
Post a Comment