SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — AccuWeather forecasters are warning that a wide array of weather hazards will threaten the center of the country as a storm shifts eastward at midweek. The system was slamming the West Coast with excessive precipitation early this week, and it could bring not only rain and snow to some areas of the nation’s midsection but also widespread damaging winds and even the potential for more severe weather.
The storm will come together across the Plains on Wednesday and strengthen throughout the day as it tracks to the northeast. As it makes that trek, it will stir widespread strong to damaging wind gusts along its path, which will cover an area of over 1,200 miles across the central United States.
“Wind gusts of around 50 mph could impact cities such as Milwaukee and Chicago at midweek, which may cause some sporadic power outages as well as cause some minor tree damage,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski cautioned.
Winds will be even stronger farther west from New Mexico to Nebraska where gusts of 60-70 mph are likely. Any high-profile vehicles traveling along portions of interstates 70 and 80 may need to take extra precautions on Wednesday as the risk for roll-overs will increase as winds strengthen.
“The highest wind gusts will be located at the Front Range of the Rockies in Colorado with an AccuWeather Local StormMax
of 120 mph,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Nicole LoBiondo said.
In areas of the Southwest and Plains, where there has been little rain or snow in recent weeks and months, and where the brush is dead or dry, high winds can quickly propel and escalate any brush fire that ignites.
By Thursday, gusty winds will spread even farther east, impacting places such as Indianapolis and Detroit.
The system will also trigger a round of gusty showers and thunderstorms, along with the potential for severe weather. Since the storm will track hundreds of miles farther to the northwest than the one that triggered the devastating and deadly tornado outbreak on Friday, the risks will generally occur northwest of the area recently pummeled by severe weather.
“The main threat to lives and property will stem from showers and thunderstorms capable of producing straight-line wind gusts as opposed to tornadoes from northeastern Oklahoma to southeastern Minnesota, central Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois from late Wednesday to Wednesday night,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
As the system advances eastward, it could tap into more moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, a necessary ingredient for severe weather.
“An increase in moisture could still trigger some locally severe storms late Wednesday night to Thursday in areas that were slammed by deadly tornadoes over the Mississippi Valley,” Sosnowski said. “While the threat of large and long-lived tornadoes appears to be low with this severe weather event, severe thunderstorms can occasionally produce brief tornadoes under the right conditions.”
Because of the strength of this storm, there is the potential for the situation to escalate in the Upper Midwest and perhaps farther to the south over the Mississippi Valley. If moisture is drawn northward at a faster pace, the severe weather threats could be enhanced, according to Sosnowski.
There will be another side to the storm moving across the Plains and into the Upper Midwest. Old Man Winter may make another appearance on the colder northern and western side of the system.
“The storm will have the potential to bring a swath of snow to parts of the Upper Midwest and northern Plains by Wednesday night into Thursday,” Pydynowski said.
It is unlikely any snowfall will approach the impressive amounts recorded at the end of last week, but any accumulating snow can still lead to some issues for residents and potential delays for travelers.
AccuWeather forecasters say that some areas that were just hit hardest by snow to end last week may miss out on snow entirely this week.
“Areas around Minneapolis that recently recorded nearly 2 feet of snow will likely be on the warm side of the storm and just get some rain instead,” Pydynowski explained.
Even a rumble of thunder around the Twin Cities area is not completely out of the question as unseasonable warmth builds across portions of the Plains and East.
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“Minneapolis will even approach its record high temperature of 51 degrees Fahrenheit from 2014 on Wednesday afternoon,” Pydynowski added.
By Thursday, the strengthening storm and the worst of its impacts will exit the United States and push into Ontario, Canada.
( AccuWeather meteorologist, contributed this report.)
