Severe Thunderstorms Moving Across Midwest Could Trigger Hail & Flash Flooding
Early Tuesday morning the National Weather Service said that cold air coming down from Canada is mixing with warm moist air coming up from the south to make conditions very favorable for thunderstorms. These storms moving into the Midwest could produce very heavy down pourings of rain, large damaging hail the size of golf balls and could even trigger flash flooding.
Who in the Midwest is at threat for severe weather? The NWS says that the areas sure to see bad weather today through Wednesday morning are those people living in an area that stretches across an area covering the eastern half of Iowa, all of Minnesota, most of Wisconsin, the northern half of Indiana, Illinois & Ohio and most of Michigan’s lower peninsula.
The National Weather Service issued a statement Tuesday morning that said that low pressure over the Plains and Midwest is leading to the formation of thunderstorms. These storms are expected to grow into a line that will move into Michigan’s lower peninsula Tuesday night and that they could trigger very heavy rainfall that could lead to flash flooding. Areas most prone for flash flooding are those along streams and rivers and those in low-lying spots.
The Service is also telling state officials in northern Indiana, northeastern Ohio and southern lower Michigan that tornado spotters may need to be activated Tuesday and especially during the evening hours as conditions in those areas will be right for the formation of twisters.
In all, about 36 million people in the Plains and Midwest are at risk for severe weather through Tuesday night. A few of the major metro areas which could see damaging winds and large hail include Chicago, Madison, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Cedar Rapids and Detroit. The severe weather that’s moving across the nation could cause real headaches for rush hour commuters as there could very well be traffic delays due to flash flooding and other weather related problems such as large hail and blinding down pourings of rain.
In the Corn Belt area of the nation that stretches from northern Missouri to Michigan, the rain associated with this weather pattern will be welcomed by farmers growing corn and soybeans. However, if very heavy rain falls for several hours in a row, crops could be negatively affected as too much water is never a good thing from a farmer’s standpoint. Forecasters across the Midwest are reminding people that they should always take stock of the weather and be very careful when traveling when there is a threat of flash flooding. Places to be very careful around include low-water passageways, viaducts, small streams and culverts as these are the first to go if a flash flooding even occurs.