Major Severe Weather Threat Heading Into the Weekend for Central U.S.

The thunderstorms forecast to roam the Plains and the Midwest on Friday and Saturday will serve as a precursor to an even more concerning severe weather outbreak on Sunday and Monday. This is what you need to know about the threat of severe weather over the next few days.

Stormy Conditions to Persist Through the Weekend

A multi-day severe weather outbreak is going to bring the risk of damaging winds, large hail, frequent lightning, flash flooding, and tornadoes through the weekend and into early next week. The bulk of the impacts will center on the Great Plains, the Mississippi Valley, and the Midwest. Forecasters are warning that travel and outdoor plans could be severely impacted as the storm train picks up steam.

Friday's severe weather threats will stretch for almost 800 miles, expanding from the northern portion of the Texas Panhandle to the northeast into western Illinois and the southwestern corner of Wisconsin. In addition to large hailstones, these storm cells could pack winds up to 65 mph.

Cities such as Des Moines will be in the center of the action late Friday. While the day will start sunny in the capital city of Iowa, storms are expected to erupt in the evening hours. Highs in the upper 80s will land in the low 60s overnight. It will be a breezy day with winds out of the south-southeast at 10 to 20 mph.

Saturday's storm threat will set up along a 1,000-mile-long area of real estate from northwestern Texas up into central Indiana. The most volatile storm cells could produce tornadoes and straight-line wind gusts that hit speeds of 60 to 70 mph.  Metro areas in the crosshairs of Saturday's storms once again include Oklahoma City, Kansas City, and Wichita.