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Severe Thunderstorms and Heavy Rainfall in the Central and Southern Plains

Severe thunderstorms capable of very large hail, damaging wind gusts, and a few tornadoes are possible today across parts of the central and southern Plains. Heavy rain will pose a threat for flash flooding across portions of central and coastal Texas. Thunderstorms may also cause isolated wind damage across the Southeast. Read More >

Overview

During the day Wednesday, May 22, a warm front lifted across northern Illinois and Indiana ushering in much warmer and more humid air than was in place during the previous two days. By the evening, an approaching cold front and upper level disturbances were able to tap into this warm and humid airmass to support the development of thunderstorms. Strong winds aloft helped some of these storms become organized into supercells and bowing lines, which both are excellent at producing wind damage and even tornadoes. During the late evening, the Storm Prediction Center issued a Tornado Watch for portions of northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, at the far northeastern end of a broad area of severe storms stretching across the Midwest. Fortunately for the local area the tornado threat did not become widespread, but both Tornado Warnings and Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued during the overnight hours. Multiple reports of wind damage were received.  

Radar image for May 22-23, 2019
Preliminary Storm Reports
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