Damage reported as severe weather rips across heartland with ...

April typically kicks off the most active three months for tornadoes in the U.S., and this year is no exception as a widespread multiday severe weather outbreak is expected to impact tens of millions of Americans in the eastern half of the country through Tuesday.

NOAA's Storm Prediction Center issued the year's first Level 4 out of 5 risk for severe weather Monday, centered over central and eastern Oklahoma and far North Texas, where storms could produce destructive hail upwards of 2-3 inches in diameter. That area was removed by Monday night, but a Level 3 out of 5 risk zone remains in a swath from Texas to Ohio.

Severe storms erupted in the central U.S. on Monday afternoon and are expected to continue throughout the night before spreading east by Tuesday morning. 

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The storms have produced both hail and winds that caused damage Monday from Texas to Kentucky.

According to the National Weather Service, hail the size of hen eggs was reported near Logan, Oklahoma. Wind-blown hail broke windows in Caney, Kansas. In Missouri, hail the size of golf balls was reported falling hard in Chesterfield for about 5 minutes. Baseball-sized hail was reported near the town of Nugent in Texas, while baseball-sized hail damaged vehicles and broke the windows of a home in Hawley. Video showed hail covering the ground in Boyd, Texas, on Monday evening.

Wind damage has also been reported. According to the NWS, law enforcement near Sweetwater, Texas, reported multiple power poles had been knocked down. A roof was ripped off a home in Shackelford, Texas, where winds of 88 mph were recorded. Trees and power lines were blown down in Independence, Kentucky. In Missouri, trees were knocked down in the town of Westphalia.

According to the NWS, a tornado near Lenapah, Oklahoma, rolled over a tractor-trailer, trapping one person inside. Another tornado was reported near the town of Hominy, Oklahoma.

Both Tornado and Severe Thunderstorm watches were issued Monday for several states.

 

Severe storms continue rumbling through Monday night

Storms packing threats of destructive hail, damaging wind gusts and tornadoes, will continue into Monday night across a broad area from the southern Plains and the Ozarks into portions of the mid-Mississippi and Ohio valleys, perhaps even spreading into a small part of the mid-Atlantic.

Monday's threat zone encompasses nearly 60 million people and includes major cities such as Dallas in Texas, Oklahoma City in Oklahoma, St. Louis in Missouri, Indianapolis in Indiana and Cincinnati in Ohio.

Very large hail is expected in a corridor extending from North Texas to southern Illinois, including in major metro areas such as the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and St. Louis.

The greatest tornado threat is expected Monday night from central and eastern Oklahoma into Missouri and adjacent portions of western Illinois. A few tornadoes could be EF-2 or stronger in this zone, which includes St. Louis.

Most of the Ohio Valley won't see its peak severe weather risk until the evening and overnight hours. Nighttime tornadoes are more than twice as likely to result in fatalities than those that happen during the day, so make sure you have a way to receive potentially life-saving weather alerts that would wake you up during the night.

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Significant tornadoes possible Tuesday

A continuation of Monday night's severe storms is expected farther east on Tuesday, with the threat stretching from the Ohio and Tennessee valleys eastward into the mid-Atlantic and southward to the central Gulf Coast states.

Wind damage and isolated large hail are possible across this widespread zone that covers nearly 80 million people, including the cities of Cincinnati in Ohio, Louisville in Kentucky, Charleston in West Virginia, Nashville in Tennessee, Baltimore in Maryland and Washington, D.C.

The tornado threat is expected to be greatest from Middle Tennessee, including the Nashville area, north-northeastward into central and northern Kentucky. However, the SPC has outlined an area that covers much of Ohio as having the highest likelihood of "significant/long-tracked tornadoes" beginning Tuesday afternoon.

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A few lingering severe thunderstorms are possible Wednesday across parts of the mid-Atlantic, Carolinas and Florida Peninsula as the storm system continues to track toward the East Coast. That includes cities along Interstate 95 such as Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington and Richmond, Virginia, as well as Raleigh, North Carolina.

Be sure to check back with FOX Weather for updates on this expected widespread severe weather outbreak. You can download the free FOX Weather app and enable notifications to receive real-time alerts about any severe weather headed your way.