Weather chaos - US weather

Severe Weather: Threat Ramps Up as Temperatures Warm Up

Weather.com,

31 January, 2014

A few spotty strong thunderstorms are possible Tuesday night for parts of the South. The main threat will be some hail, though mostly below severe thresholds. Cities in the risk area include Memphis; Nashville; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Tupelo, Miss.; and Huntsville, Ala.

With a major pattern shift in the works bringing warmer weather to the central and eastern U.S., strong to severe thunderstorms will become more of a concern by Thursday and Friday – even in areas that still have snow on the ground now.

A very strong low-pressure system will bring a large area of very strong winds just above the ground beginning Wednesday night over the central U.S., spreading east on Thursday. The system will also pull warm, moist, unstable air north from the Gulf of Mexico. These elements will set the stage for an episode of severe weather.

The potential for strong thunderstorms begins late Wednesday night over parts of Kansas and Missouri. The bigger threat develops Thursday and continues into Thursday night in the Ohio Valley, mid to lower Mississippi Valley, and the western Gulf Coast states. The main threat, by far, will be damaging winds. However, a few tornadoes will be possible, along with some large hail.

On Friday, strong to potentially severe thunderstorms may sweep into the East Coast states from Florida to the Mid-Atlantic states. Again, damaging wind gusts will be the primary threat. Thunderstorms should move off the Atlantic coast by sunset Friday.

For the day-by-day severe weather forecast from our severe weather expert, Dr. Greg Forbes, click here.

Cold and snowy in Michigan.

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