By AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Mar. 5, 2022 12:36 PM EST | Updated Mar. 6, 2022 7:29 PM EST
Following a torrent of severe weather across the Midwest on Saturday, a potent storm is set to sweep across the central and eastern U.S. into Tuesday, bringing with it the threat for more severe weather.
A tornado watch has been issued for western and northern Arkansas, southern Missouri, and parts of southeast Oklahoma, including Little Rock, Arkansas, until 8 p.m. local time.
"A dramatic clash in chilly air to the north and warm air to the south will aid in the development of severe thunderstorms as a strong jet stream overhead provides vigor to the volatile weather setup," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
Severe weather broke out on Sunday afternoon across Arkansas before extending east and south across portions of Missouri. The storms are forecasted to impact Arkansas, northeastern Texas and western Tennessee through Sunday night.
At around 4 p.m. local time, a tornado was confirmed by the National Weather Service to be over Cash, Arkansas. Another confirmed tornado was located over Broomfield, Arkansas, just after 5:30 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
"Not all of the ingredients that are necessary for severe weather are expected at the same time, and this could limit the magnitude of the event," explained Sosnowski. Even still, AccuWeather meteorologists anticipated that the severe thunderstorms that fired on Sunday afternoon were capable of producing damaging wind gusts, flooding downpours and perhaps a tornado or two.
Thunderstorm wind gusts can reach an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 80 mph, which is strong enough to cause power outages and property and tree damage.
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Severe weather hazards may continue well into the overnight hours for portions of the southern Plains and the lower Mississippi Valley. Because of the risk of severe thunderstorms, including a few isolated tornadoes, after dark, the eruption could still pose considerable danger.
Cities at risk for the late-weekend severe weather threat include Shreveport, Louisiana; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Memphis, Tennessee.
The threat for severe thunderstorms will likely shift eastward on Monday, expanding into portions of the Tennessee Valley and Ohio Valley. Locations from northeastern Louisiana into West Virginia could all be impacted, including cities like Jackson, Mississippi, Nashville and Charleston, West Virginia.
Once again, communities should be on alert for downpours that could produce ponding on roadways, slowed travel and flash flooding. Any sudden wind gust could pose an additional travel hazard of reduced visibility.
Aside from the risk of thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts, flooding rainfall is expected to be a farther-reaching threat with this storm.
The heaviest rainfall is expected from Sunday night to Monday across parts the central Mississippi River Valley and into the Ohio River Valley. This event may bring 1 to 4 inches of rain, and even a few locations could reach the predicted AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 7 inches.
With this much rain only expected to fall in about 24 hour's time, the torrential rain may lead to flash flooding, especially since much of this zone has been the target of heavy rainfall over the past couple of weeks.
Water levels in many streams and rivers in the region are already elevated with ongoing minor to moderate flooding in some cases. A new surge of water or perhaps a second crest can occur on some waterways in the wake of the last weekend's rain event.
AccuWeather meteorologists will continue to monitor for more severe weather and flooding threats as the transition to spring continues.
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