Heavier weather moved south, Midwest

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Forecasters are warning of heavier weather, including tornadoes, Tuesday and Wednesday in parts of the South and Midwest hit by deadly storms just a few days ago.

That could mean more misery for people sifting through the rubble of their homes in Arkansas, Iowa and Illinois. Dangerous conditions Tuesday could also extend to parts of Missouri, southwestern Oklahoma and northeastern Texas. Further south and west, the fire risk remains high.

“It could start out as isolated supercells with all sorts of hazards — tornadoes, wind, and hail — and then over time typically form into a series (of thunderstorms) and move further east,” said Ryan Bunker, weather forecaster at the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

Heavy storms Wednesday in eastern Illinois and lower Michigan and the Ohio Valley, including Indiana and Ohio, could produce powerful tornadoes and large hail, according to the Storm Prediction Center. The severe weather threat extends southwest across parts of Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas.

Just last week, violent storms that spawned tornadoes in 11 states killed at least 32 people as the system that began Friday trotted through Arkansas and into the South, Midwest and Northeast.

The same conditions that fueled last week’s storms — an area of ​​low pressure combined with strong southerly winds — will make conditions ideal for another round of severe weather Tuesday through early Wednesday, Bunker said.

These conditions, which typically include dry air from the west rising over the Rocky Mountains and plunging into warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico, are the way to go make the US vulnerable to tornadoes and other severe storms.

In Minnesota, that of the state popular EagleCam captured the moment when strong winds drove a 20-year-old eagle’s nest out of a tree, Killing an eagle that had hatched a few days earlier. Officials believed heavy snow that fell in a weekend blizzard — coupled with the weight of the more than 2,000-pound nest — became too much for the tree to support.

The fire danger is expected to remain high Tuesday in parts of far western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, northeastern New Mexico and far southeastern Colorado, with low humidity, dry vegetation and wind gusts of up to 70 mph, according to the State Weather Service.