Spring's 1st widespread severe outbreak to threaten hail, tornadoes

By Courtney Spamer, AccuWeather meteorologist

Updated Mar. 29, 2020 3:29 AM

Severe weather began to erupt across the center of the country Saturday, with the dangers of hail, wind and tornadoes set to continue overnight.

The atmosphere was already volatile and primed for severe weather going into the weekend, after thunderstorms produced large, softball-sized hail on Friday across parts of Missouri.

The same storm that will bring a swath of snow across the northern Plains and Upper Midwest also created violent weather by midday on Saturday.

"This storm is quite complex which could lead to severe weather from Iowa and Missouri, on south along the Mississippi River and east towards the Ohio River into Saturday night," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Edwards.

Thunderstorms that erupt will have the potential to create heavy downpours and another round of large hail, as well as damaging winds up to 60 mph and tornadoes.

Temporary triage and testing centers have been set up outdoors in some communities amid the pandemic. These shelters could be at significant risk to these operations should severe weather roll in.

"Although almost anywhere from southern Wisconsin to Mississippi could see a tornado, the greatest threat for tornadoes is across eastern Iowa and western Illinois," added Edwards.

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From later Saturday night to Sunday morning, the setup for severe weather will become less favorable, allowing thunderstorms to diminish in intensity.

However, there can still be heavy gusty thunderstorms and a few locally severe storms from southeastern Michigan, southern Ontario and central New York state, to northern Georgia, central Alabama and central Mississippi.

Through the day on Sunday, rain and thunderstorms will continue across the majority of the Northeast, while some snow falls across parts of Maine and southern Quebec.

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