Current Events : 5/5 tornadoes

A rare “high risk” Level 5 out of 5 alert has been issued for parts of the Midwest and Mid-South, impacting nearly 3 million people, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said Friday.

High risk areas include portions of southeastern Iowa, northwestern Illinois and northeastern Missouri, and includes places like Davenport, Iowa, and Iowa City. The second area is farther south and includes portions of eastern Arkansas, northern Mississippi and southwestern Tennessee. Memphis, Tennessee, is included in the high risk area.

“Environmental conditions are quickly becoming favorable to support the potential for numerous strong to potentially violent and long-track tornadoes,” the center said.

High risk days are exceedingly rare and are “reserved for when high confidence exists in widespread coverage of severe weather with embedded instances of extreme severe” weather such as violent tornadoes or extreme damaging winds, according to the storm center.

The last Level 5 high risk day occurred on March 25, 2021, when numerous tornadoes were reported across the Southeast.

Additionally, severe storms are expected to sweep across some central and southern states beginning Friday afternoon, bringing the threat of several strong tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds to nearly 90 million people across 21 states.

Tornado watches have been issued for 15 million people, stretching from southern Arkansas to northern Iowa until 8 p.m CDT and parts of northeast Texas, northwest Louisiana and far southern Oklahoma until 9:00 p.m. CDT. Shreveport, Louisiana, and Tyler, Texas, are included in the tornado watch.

These tornado watches have been labeled a “particularly dangerous situation” by the Storm Prediction Center.

A tornado watch is in effect for Northern Illinois, Northwest Indiana, Southern Wisconsin and Lake Michigan until 10 p.m. CDT, according to the Storm Prediction Center. Storms developing this afternoon and evening are expected to produce a couple of intense tornadoes, damaging wind gusts to 70 mph and hail as large as golf balls.

Cities in the watch include Chicago, Madison, Wisconsin, Milwaukee and Rockford, Illinois.

And a tornado warning is in effect until 3 p.m. CDT that includes Peoria, Illinois, where a confirmed tornado will soon approach, according to the National Weather Service.

The prediction center warns of a couple of tornadoes, large hail and damaging wind gusts of up to 70 mph.

“Parameters are favorable for the potential for strong/violent tornadoes and very large hail,” the storm center said.

A moderate, Level 4 of 5, risk of severe storms stretches from northern Mississippi to Iowa, including Indianapolis, Indiana, Little Rock, Arkansas, Des Moines, Iowa, and St. Louis.

Due to the tornado emergency, the National Weather Service located in North Little Rock has evacuated to a tornado shelter. The NWS office in Memphis is taking over issuing warnings.

“At least a few long-track, strong to potentially violent tornadoes are probable, particularly over portions of the Mid-Mississippi Valley to the Mid-South,” the Storm Prediction Center said. “Swaths of intense damaging wind gusts along with very large hail are expected as well.”

Some of the tornadoes may be EF-3 or higher, meaning they would have winds of at least 136 mph.

Overall, the moderate risk area covers 10 million people.

“We are concerned about strong tornadoes and widespread damaging winds,” Bill Bunting, chief of forecast operations at the Storm Prediction Center, told CNN, noting the storms will be fast-moving. “We’ve been trying to stress, don’t wait until you see visual cues of the storm approaching, take action when warnings are issued.”

“Residents are advised to remain weather-aware and have multiple ways to receive weather alerts,” the Weather Prediction Center said. “Along with the severe weather threat, storms may also contain intense rainfall rates that could last long enough to produce isolated-to-scattered areas of flash flooding.”