High-risk today for possibly very severe weather in South-Central KS & much of OK

Millions of people in the central United States, including the Wichita area, could see powerful storms Monday including long-track tornadoes, hurricane-force winds and baseball-sized hail, forecasters said.

Parts of Kansas and much of Oklahoma are at the greatest risk of bad weather — including areas in Oklahoma, such as Sulphur and Holdenville, still recovering from a tornado that killed four people and left thousands without power last week.

In all, nearly 10 million people live in areas under threat of severe weather, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said. Forecasters there issued a rare high risk for central Oklahoma and southern Kansas. The last time a high risk was issued was March 31, 2023, when a massive storm system tore through parts of the South and Midwest including Arkansas, Illinois and rural Indiana.

Bill Bunting, the center’s deputy director, said a high risk from the Storm Prediction Center is not something seen every day or every spring. “It’s the highest level of threat we can assign. And it’s a day to take very, very seriously," he said.

Other cities that could see stormy weather include Kansas City, Missouri, and Lincoln, Nebraska.

Bunting said the number of storms and their intensity should increase quickly in the evening hours across western parts of Oklahoma and up into south-central Kansas.

Bunting advises people in the affected areas to develop a severe weather plan early in the day.

“Make sure that you have ways to communicate with your family members," he said. “Make sure everyone knows where their shelters are,,” and how they can continue to receive warnings.

The entire week is looking stormy across the U.S. Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis, and Cincinnati could see severe thunderstorms later in the week, where more than 21 million people live.

Meanwhile, early Monday heavy rains hit southwestern Texas, especially the Houston area, leaving neighborhoods flooded and leading to hundreds of high-water rescues.
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By ALEXA ST. JOHN Associated Press

Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate solutions reporter.