Forecasters warned of another bout of severe storms headed for the central U.S. this week, days after extreme weather, including tornadoes, killed at least 28 people in some of the same regions.
The National Weather Service said a “multitude of hazardous weather” would impact the U.S. over the next several days — from thunderstorms and potentially baseball-sized hail on the Plains, to heavy mountain snow in the West and dangerous heat in the South.
Areas at risk of thunderstorms include communities in Kentucky and Missouri that were hit by Friday’s tornadoes. Flood watches were in place for much of southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas, as well as patches of eastern Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas.
In addition to heavy rainfall, forecasters also said “potentially strong to intense” tornadoes, large hail and destructive winds could materialize with the storms. A flood watch is issued when the weather service identifies conditions favorable for flooding, but it does not necessarily mean flooding is imminent.
Here’s what to know about the recent storms.
Tornadoes swept through Midwest and South
Residents of Kentucky and Missouri on Sunday were digging out of neighborhoods struck by tornadoes earlier in the weekend. The weather system that produced those twisters killed residents in both states, as well as at least one person in Virginia, officials said, and also caused tornadoes farther north in Wisconsin.
Emergency workers in Palo Pinto County, Texas, about 65 miles west of Fort Worth, said a powerful tornado ripped through their rural community Sunday night, but only minor injuries were reported.
In London, Kentucky, people whose houses were destroyed scrambled Sunday to put tarps over salvageable items or haul them away for safe storage, said Zach Wilson. His parents’ house was in ruins, their belongings scattered.
“We’re trying the hardest to get anything that looks of value and getting it protected, especially pictures and papers and things like that,” he said.
At least 19 people were killed and 10 seriously injured in Kentucky, where a tornado on Friday damaged hundreds of homes and tossed vehicles in southeastern Laurel County. Officials said the death toll could rise and that three people remained in critical condition Sunday.
Wilson said he raced to his parents’ home in London, Kentucky, after the storm.
“It was dark and still raining but every lightning flash, it was lighting up your nightmares: Everything was gone,” he said. “The thankful thing was me and my brother got here and got them out of where they had barricaded themselves.”
Survey teams were expected on the ground Monday so the state can apply for federal disaster assistance, Gov. Andy Beshear said. Some of the two dozen state roads that had closures could take days to reopen.
In St. Louis, five people died and 38 were injured as the storm system swept through on Friday, according to Mayor Cara Spencer. More than 5,000 homes in the city were affected, she said.
On Sunday, city inspectors were going through damaged areas to condemn unsafe structures, Spencer said. She asked people not to sightsee in damaged areas.
A tornado that started in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton traveled at least 8 miles, had 150-mph winds and had a maximum width of 1 mile, according to the weather service. It touched down in the area of Forest Park, home to the St. Louis Zoo and the site of the 1904 World’s Fair and the Olympic Games that same year.
In Scott County, about 130 miles south of St. Louis, a tornado killed two people, injured several others and destroyed multiple homes, Sheriff Derick Wheetley wrote on social media.
The weather system spawned tornadoes in Wisconsin and temporarily enveloped parts of Illinois — including Chicago — in a pall of dust.
Two people were killed in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., by falling trees while driving.
National Weather Service staffing cuts
The storms hit after the Trump administration cut staffing of weather service offices, with outside experts worrying about how it would affect warnings in disasters such as tornadoes.
The majority of the world’s tornadoes occur in the U.S., which has about 1,200 annually.
Researchers in 2018 found that deadly tornadoes were happening less frequently in the traditional “Tornado Alley” of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas and more frequently in parts of the more densely populated and tree-filled South.
They can happen any time of day or night, but certain times of the year bring peak “tornado season.” That’s from May into early June for the southern Plains and earlier in the spring on the Gulf Coast.
The deadliest tornado in Kentucky’s history was hundreds of yards wide when it tore through downtown Louisville’s business district in March 1890, collapsing multistory buildings, including one with 200 people inside. Seventy-six people were killed.
The last tornado to cause mass fatalities in Kentucky was a December 2021 twister that lasted almost five hours. It traveled some 165 miles, leaving a path of destruction that included 57 dead and more than 500 injured, according to the weather service. Officials recorded at least 41 tornadoes during that storm, which killed at least 77 people statewide.
On the same day, a deadly tornado struck the St. Louis area, killing six people at an Amazon facility in nearby Illinois.
Thunderstorms with potentially damaging winds were forecast for a region stretching from northeast Colorado to central Texas.
And tornadoes will again be a threat, particularly from central Kansas to Oklahoma, according to the weather service.
Meanwhile, triple-digit temperatures were forecast for parts of south Texas with the potential to break daily records. The hot, dry air also sets the stage for critical wildfire conditions through early this week in southern New Mexico and West Texas.
Up to a foot of snow was expected in parts of Idaho and western Montana.
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