Tornadoes bringing ‘day of destruction’ to millions as extreme storms hammer 15 major US cities

A massive stormfront is moving across the Midwest bringing the threat of tornadoes and floods to millions in what meteorologists are calling a ‘day of destruction.’

The National Weather Service and AccuWeather have both warned that approximately 14 million Americans are in the path of an extreme weather system bringing a high risk of heavy rain, dangerous wind gusts and widespread tornadoes.

The greatest danger zone is centered in Illinois, where tornado watches have already been issued in more than 40 counties statewide.

Forecasters revealed that Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio and parts of southern Michigan are all in the center of the likely impact zone, however, even more states throughout the Central US could see severe thunderstorms Wednesday night.

Dan DePodwin, AccuWeather’s Vice President of Forecasting Operations, said in a statement: ‘The atmosphere across the Midwest is primed for a volatile day of destructive, rapidly moving thunderstorms that can bring widespread damaging winds, tornadoes, hail and flash flooding.’

‘The threat will continue overnight Wednesday as the storms race east into Indiana, far southern Michigan, Ohio and potentially even western Pennsylvania.’

Several major US cities sit in the middle of a zone meteorologists said will see the greatest chance of a tornado touching down in just hours, including Peoria, Springfield, Bloomington, Decatur and Champaign, Illinois, and Indianapolis, Indiana.

However, the tornado threat in the Midwest also includes moderate risks for twisters in Chicago, St Louis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Fort Wayne, Kansas City, Grand Rapids and Detroit.

This is a breaking story. More details to follow.

DePodwin warned: ‘The tornado risk could extend well into the late-night hours on Wednesday across the Ohio Valley.’

The weather expert added that ‘nocturnal tornadoes,’ which describes a twister touching down in the middle of the night, can be the most dangerous events because they are hard to see and can take place when most people are asleep and cannot take cover.

While the chance of a powerful tornado striking a populated city may be the biggest concern on Wednesday, forecasters said this storm is almost certain to bring extremely dangerous thunderstorms, known as supercells.

Torrential downpours, wind gusts between 75 and 85 mph, large hailstones and lightning strikes are expected across an area with more than 40 million residents by nightfall.

‘Dozens of tornado reports are likely with some tornadoes could be particularly intense and on the ground for a long period of time,’ AccuWeather warned. 

Flash flood warnings have also been issued by the National Weather Service in eastern Iowa. Meanwhile, flood watches are in effect across parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio.

The AccuWeather team noted that the major storm was being fueled by a large area of low pressure in the atmosphere which was ‘unusually intense for June.’

Warm, humid air from the South has also been moving into the Midwest, while the strong wave of low pressure air in the upper atmosphere pushes across the region from the west. This creates a massive clash of different air masses.

The warm, moist air acts as fuel for the thunderstorms, making the atmosphere very unstable so the air wants to rise quickly. At the same time, there will be very strong winds blowing at different speeds and directions at various heights in the atmosphere – called wind shear.

The wind shear makes the storms spin and organize into rotating supercells that can stay strong for long periods of time and create tornadoes, wind gusts over 100 mph  and large hail that can shatter glass and injure anyone caught outdoors.