UPDATE
Apr 3, 2025 1:30 AM CDT
At least one person was killed Wednesday as violent storms hit the Midwest and South, and potentially deadly flash flooding could still come. Dozens of warnings for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms were issued in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri (where the fatality was reported), and Mississippi , the AP reports. The storms knocked over power lines and trees, ripped roofs off buildings and tossed debris thousands of feet into the air. The storms are expected to continue, with potential for flash floods, through Saturday. More than a foot of rain is possible during that span, which the National Weather Service says "is an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime."
Apr 2, 2025 8:59 AM CDT
A "once-in-a-generation extreme weather event" is threatening to bring tornadoes to parts of the Midwest and South, to be quickly followed by potential floods, per ABC News. A huge storm system is stretching from northern Texas to the Great Lakes. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has issued a "high risk" warning, typically only issued a few times a year, for portions of Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee, with the possibility of multiple long-lived tornadoes of at least EF3 strength, with winds of 136mph to 165mph and above, per USA Today and Fox Weather.
Two tornadoes were reported overnight in eastern Kansas, per ABC, while one was confirmed near Owasso, Oklahoma, where roof and tree damage were visible Wednesday morning, per the Weather Channel. Parts of Oklahoma also saw golf-ball-sized hail. The greatest risk of tornadoes is expected from Wednesday afternoon into the evening, though severe weather will continue beyond. As ABC reports, parts of the country are facing "an exceedingly rare double whammy of high risk for tornadoes, and then high risk for extreme flooding."
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Flood watches have been issued from Louisiana to Illinois, with up to 5 inches of rain expected this week, per USA Today. "Should the amount of rain occur that we anticipate over the middle of the nation, it would exceed the 500- to 1,000-year average," AccuWeather meteorologist William Clark says, per the outlet. "Truly, the potential is there for a historic flash flooding event." Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota, which have been experiencing heavy snowfall this week, "could get 8 inches more of snow, with higher amounts possible in some areas," per USA Today. (More extreme weather stories.)
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