The National Weather Service said thunderstorms, damaging winds and large hail are expected to develop across the Plains starting Monday before spreading to parts of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and the South and Midwest.
Severe thunderstorms are expected, primarily in the southern and central Great Plains Monday night. According to the National Weather Service, tornadoes are possible.
Mark Chennard, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said large hail is the biggest threat from the storm.
The weather service said the storm could produce baseball-sized hail and winds of 60 to 80 mph.
“There will be some areas with heavy rain,” Chenard said. “Localized flash flooding is possible.”
Storms are possible from Texas to South Dakota on Monday, with a high risk of severe weather from northern Texas to western Oklahoma and parts of Nebraska and Kansas.
Areas at increased risk (Level 3 out of 5) cover a population of more than 1.5 million people and include the cities of Lincoln, Nebraska, Manhattan, Kansas, and Grand Island, Nebraska.
Larger areas of the Plains were at slight risk (level 2 out of 5) of severe weather, along with millions of other people.
On Tuesday, the storm is expected to move across the eastern Plains and into the central states, bringing danger from northeast Texas to Iowa and Illinois. Several severe storms are expected in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri during the day.
Chenard said tornadoes are possible Monday and Tuesday.
“There's not a huge threat on Monday, but there's a threat everywhere from North Texas to Nebraska,” he said. “And on Tuesday, the risk will be slightly higher from northern Missouri to central Iowa.”
Hot, dry, windy weather will continue as the storm sweeps through the central states, raising the risk of wildfires in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
On Monday, more than 1.7 million people were in areas deemed to be at “significant” risk of wildfires, including El Paso and Las Cruces, New Mexico.