A battering of severe thunderstorms producing large hail and tornadoes lashed parts of the Plains on Wednesday, and more are likely on Thursday. Rotating thunderstorms, a few of which could produce strong tornadoes, are expected across the Ozarks and Mid-South on Thursday.
Thursday's severe weather risk zone stretches from Ohio and Indiana all the way to Waco, Tex., and includes a number of major metro areas -- Dallas; Memphis and Jackson, Tenn.; Evansville, Ind.; Cincinnati; Indianapolis; and the southern suburbs of Chicago.
Widespread large, damaging hail is expected, along with a few tornadoes and damaging winds well into the night.
After severe thunderstorm watches and warnings were in effect in Illinois during the midmorning hours Thursday, a tornado watch was issued for eastern Oklahoma until 6 p.m. Central time; additional watches are expected to be issued farther to the east.
The new alerts come after hail as big as softballs, 31/2 inches in diameter, pounded parts of Missouri and Kansas on Wednesday night. The National Weather Service also received three reports of tornadoes in Kansas.
In one warning that was issued for Kansas City, the Weather Service said the storm could produce apple-sized hailstones and wind gusts of 60 miles per hour.
"If you are in this warning, get away from windows and shelter inside now!!!," the Weather Service said.
People on social media posted photos of the "gorilla hail" -- a term coined by storm chaser Reed Timmer for such large hailstones -- placing them next to rulers, apples and tennis balls for comparison.
The hail brought traffic to a standstill on Interstate 70 near Kansas City, the Weather Service said on X.
A strong tornado touched down near Alta Vista, Kan., a small town about 40 miles southwest of Topeka, but there were not immediate reports of injuries. Intermittent damage is likely to have occurred between Alta Vista and Dwight, just south of I-70, which continues westward from Kansas City through Topeka and then all the way west through Denver.
Thursday's setup featured a large zone of low pressure that stretched from Kansas to just southwest of Chicago. Lows spin counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, meaning southerly winds ahead of the system were pumping north a warm, humid air mass directly from the Gulf of Mexico. That moisture caused ample instability, or fuel, to support the development of strong to severe storms.
The jet stream tied to the low pressure system was slicing over the Mississippi and Ohio valleys and inducing shear, or a change of wind speed and/or direction with height. Any storms that grow tall enough to feel the changing winds will have the potential to rotate -- hence the tornado risk.
There are two areas of enhanced tornado potential:
With cold air in the upper atmosphere, storms will have the potential to produce widespread large, destructive hail.
The entire risk area will see multiple squall lines with damaging winds carrying on past midnight, until storms eventually outrun the fuel that gave rise to them.
Jason Samenow contributed to this report.
This article was downloaded by calibre from https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/03/14/gorilla-hail-storm-kansas-missouri/
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