While residents across parts of the US's South and Midwest sift through the wreckage of their homes after deadly tornados, forecasters are warning of more severe weather and fire danger in the days ahead.
While residents across parts of the US's South and Midwest sift through the wreckage of their homes after deadly tornados, forecasters are warning of more severe weather and fire danger in the days ahead.
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Dangerous conditions are forecast for Arkansas, Iowa and Illinois and could also stretch into parts of Missouri, southwest Oklahoma and northeast Texas.
“That could initially start as isolated supercells with all hazards possible — tornadoes, wind and hail — and then over time typically they form into a line (of thunderstorms) and continue moving eastward,” said Ryan Bunker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
Just last week, fierce storms that spawned tornadoes in 11 states killed at least 32 people as the system that began Friday swept through Arkansas and travelled northeast through the South and into the Midwest and Northeast.
Threat of fire
The same conditions that fueled last week’s storms — an area of low pressure combined with strong southerly winds — will make conditions ideal for another round of severe weather Tuesday into early morning Wednesday, Bunker said.
Those conditions typically include dry air from the west going up over the Rockies and crashing into warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico.
The threat of fire danger is expected to remain high across portions of far western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, northeast New Mexico and far southeastern Colorado, with low humidity, dry vegetation and wind gusts expected up to 113 kph, according to the National Weather Service.