By AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Aug. 9, 2021 11:50 AM EDT
The hits just keep coming for the north-central United States as a stormy pattern persists for portions of the region. Daily rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms have brought the North Central states damaging wind gusts, flooding rainfall and hail each day since last Thursday.
Late Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning, severe thunderstorms unleashed damaging wind gusts across a more than 500-mile-long swath from the Texas Panhandle to eastern Nebraska. These storms also unloaded torrential rainfall across Omaha, Nebraska, which led to widespread, dangerous and destructive flash flooding.
AccuWeather forecasters say the risk for severe thunderstorms will still persist across the North Central states through Tuesday. However, into Monday night, the areas set to be impacted are not forecast to be as widespread as the severe weather that overtook the region over the weekend.
"Into Monday night, a couple pieces of energy will be moving through the north-central U.S. which will help to set off more feisty thunderstorms. Instead of one consolidated area of severe weather, there may be a few pockets where thunderstorms become more severe than others," AccuWeather Meteorologist Renee Duff said.
AccuWeather forecasters have pinpointed two main areas that will need to remain especially weather-aware into Monday night.
The first area of concern will stretch from eastern North Dakota and Minnesota, south into Nebraska through Monday night. Residents of places such as Grand Forks and Fargo, North Dakota, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as well as travelers on portions of interstates 29, 80, 90 and 94 will likely need to keep an eye to the sky for changing weather conditions.
In Nebraska, it was the southeastern portion of the state that was hit hardest by severe storms over the weekend. That area may be spared by the worst of the storms with this new espisode.
The second area AccuWeather forecasters are monitoring for severe activity into Monday night is centered around part of Lake Michigan. Areas from northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin to northern Indiana and parts of central Michigan are at risk for feisty storms. This area includes Chicago and Milwaukee.
Chicago is under a slight risk advisory for severe thunderstorms into Monday night, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center, while Milwaukee is under a marginal risk. Marginal is the lowest risk level for severe weather, while slight is the fourth-highest threat level on the SPC's categorical outlook. There are more than 11 million residents under a slight risk Monday, but the marginal area covers a population of more than 29 million.
Storms in these three areas will have the capability to produce flooding downpours and damaging wind gusts with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 80 mph. While heavy rain and strong winds will be the main impacts from the latest round of storms, an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out.
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The threat for severe weather will consolidate once again into one larger area of concern Tuesday.
"The storm that develops later Tuesday into Tuesday night will be stronger overall and the resulting thunderstorms that develop in the afternoon will be quite intense," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Matt Rinde said.
On Tuesday afternoon, storms are set to first develop across central Iowa and far southeastern Minnesota. As the afternoon progresses, the coverage of storms will expand eastward and impact portions of northern Illinois, Wisconsin and parts of southern Ontario, Canada.
Storms will continue to push eastward overnight and bring the risk for severe weather to parts of Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
More than 39 million residents live in an area covered under the slight risk for severe thunderstorms on Tuesday. This includes cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Cleveland.
Rinde noted that damaging winds will be the biggest concern with Tuesday's storms, but flash flooding and even an isolated tornado are not out of the realm of possibility.
The strongest wind gusts across much of the Great Lakes region on Tuesday can generally reach into the 55- to 65-mph range, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 80 mph.
By midweek, conditions look to settle down somewhat across the central U.S., giving some locales a break from severe weather chances for the first time in nearly a full week.
Later in the week, AccuWeather forecasters say a cold front will dig across the country and usher in cooler and more comfortable conditions from the Midwest to the Northeast.
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