More severe weather is forecast for much of the Midwest and southern United States just days after tornadoes left devastation in many of the same communities.
NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center
After storms that hit parts of the South, Midwest and Northeast killed at least 32 people, many of the same communities still reeling from disaster are preparing for more bad weather this week.
“Strong tornadoes and particularly damaging winds are expected. Both afternoon and overnight potential will exist across various regions, including the risk of dangerous nighttime tornadoes,” the National Weather Service said.
Areas at the highest level of risk of threatening storms include Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, Iowa, as well as parts of Missouri. A second area of “enhanced risk” include St. Louis, Missouri; Madison, Wisconsin; Des Moines, Iowa; as well as Little Rock, Arkansas, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasts suggest storms may hit mid-afternoon on Tuesday in some areas, with stormy conditions continuing through the early morning on Wednesday.
Just last week, an EF3 tornado tore a “30-mile path of destruction” through central Arkansas, with neighborhoods west of Little Rock suffering the heaviest damage, according to Daniel Breen with KUAR.
Residents embrace while evacuating their neighborhood after a large tornado damaged homes and buildings on March 31 in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Benjamin Krain/Getty Images
Benjamin Krain/Getty Images
Ahead of the storms, affected states warned residents to prepare. In Chicago, where the city is preparing for elections on Tuesday, the city’s Board of Elections urged residents to make a plan to vote early to avoid the worst of the storms.
In other parts of the country, a major winter storm is expected across the Dakotas, Wyoming and Utah, with more than 24 inches of snowfall possible starting Monday and lasting through Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service’s forecast. Life-threatening, subzero wind chills are also possible for parts of Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska.
This all comes more than a week after a catastrophic tornado left almost 30 people dead in Mississippi and Alabama.