Tornadoes remain a danger as severe weather onslaught continues across central US

By Kristina Pydynowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

The central United States will remain the target of widespread severe weather, including tornadoes, and flooding through Wednesday.

Following the devastating tornadoes from the Memorial Day holiday weekend, more lives and property will be threatened by damaging thunderstorms and tornadoes into Wednesday.

Heavy rain accompanying the severe weather will further aggravate flooding and delay planting across the region.

"While large hail, damaging winds and flooding will be the main threats from these storms, the danger for tornadoes cannot be overstated," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Edwards.

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The risk of tornadoes is expected to be highest from northeastern Texas into southern Missouri on Wednesday.

However, residents throughout the Plains are reminded that it only takes one damaging thunderstorm or tornado to devastate a family or community.

Downloading the free AccuWeather app and enabling audible alerts on your cell phone is a great way to receive severe weather bulletins as they are issued so you can seek shelter.

This advice should be followed by residents in the cities of Springfield, Columbia and St. Louis, Missouri; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Dallas and Abilene, Texas.

The beginnings of Wednesday's severe weather began taking shape in western Texas on Tuesday night.

Thunderstorms will continue to erupt and expand across western and northern Texas into Oklahoma, Arkansas and southern Missouri during Wednesday.

Debris lies on the ground at a motel after a deadly storm moved though the area in El Reno, Oklahoma, on Sunday, May 26, 2019. The storm destroyed the motel and roared through a nearby mobile home park and caused significant damage in the Oklahoma City area, officials said Sunday. (AP Photo/Tim Talley)

The thunderstorms may then spread to St. Louis and toward San Antonio, Texas, and Shreveport, Louisiana, on Wednesday night.

Abilene, Dallas, Waco and Tyler, Texas; McAlester, Oklahoma; Fort Smith, Arkansas—cities that have escaped the recent onslaught of severe weather—will be threatened Wednesday into Wednesday night.

Severe weather dangers may not hold off until later in the day as is typical but can be present as the thunderstorms spread from western Texas to south-central Oklahoma on Wednesday morning.

Motorists planning to travel on stretches of interstates 20, 30, 35, 40 and 44 are urged to be vigilant and ready to safely leave the highway should severe weather threaten. At the very least, the thunderstorms will create poor visibility and heighten the risk of vehicles hydroplaning.

A quick 1-2 inches of rain can trigger flooding in urban and poor drainage areas, bring streams out of their banks and aggravate ongoing river flooding, especially in areas that have been inundated with heavy rain over the past week.

The severe weather threat will be confined to western and central Texas on Thursday, while much-needed dry weather expands over most of the central Plains.

However, the Plains will not be treated to a prolonged stretch of sunshine.

Clusters of showers and thunderstorms targeting the Plains are expected to increase again for the start of June. While widespread severe weather is not expected, there can still be localized damaging thunderstorms and flooding further plaguing residents and farmers.

Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.