Missouri to Texas on alert for severe storms to end the weekend

By Renee Duff, AccuWeather meteorologist

Violent thunderstorms will break out over a portion of the central United States as the weekend comes to a close.

A storm system responsible for generating a few tornadoes over the southern Plains on Friday and large hail in central Oklahoma on Saturday will ignite a third round of severe weather on Sunday.

Thunderstorms are expected to fire up on Sunday afternoon from the lower half of Missouri to northwestern Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma, before spreading south and eastward into Sunday night.

Winds strong enough to cause tree damage and power outages, large hail and torrential downpours will be the main risks with these storms.

However, AccuWeather meteorologists cannot rule out the potential for an isolated tornado or two.

Areas at risk for the dangerous weather include St. Louis, Cape Girardeau and Springfield, Missouri; Fort Smith, Fayetteville and Little Rock, Arkansas; Dallas and Texarkana, Texas; Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee; and Paducah, Kentucky.

People in these and surrounding communities should keep a close eye out for rapidly changing weather conditions.

Download the free AccuWeather app to be notified when severe weather watches and warnings are issued for your area.

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As the storms move through, reduced visibility and ponding of water on the roadways will impact motorists on stretches of interstates 30, 40, 44 and 55.

Anyone who is outside should seek shelter immediately after the first rumble of thunder or stroke of lightning.

The storms will largely stay south of areas being impacted by the worst of the river flooding in the Central states.

As any necessary cleanup operations get underway in the central United States on Monday, the severe weather risk is forecast to lessen as the downpours spread into the Southeastern states.