Five million people are at risk of storms Thursday across eastern Nebraska, northern Missouri, most of Iowa and southern Minnesota, with hazards including very large hail up to 2 inches in diameter, damaging winds and possible tornadoes.
The severe weather will continue into the Easter weekend for large sections of the country, as a cold front pushing south through the West and central U.S. brings heavy snow and rain, according to the National Weather Service.
In the West, the front will produce heavy snow and strong winds over portions of the Rockies, starting in south-central Montana and much of Wyoming on Thursday and moving to the Colorado Rockies on Friday.
One to 2 feet of snow or more is forecast over Wyoming. Meanwhile, Colorado could see 6-12 inches, the weather service warned. Up to 2 feet of snow is possible at the highest elevations of the Rockies, and the snow will last through Sunday night.
The National Weather Service office in Boulder, Colorado, said winter weather advisories are in place and warned that road conditions will be wet and slushy through the weekend.
“The heavy wet snow may lead to broken branches and power outages,” the office warned.
Meanwhile, the eastern flank of the cold front will lead to scattered thunderstorms in central states.
By Friday, 40 million people will be at risk of severe weather from northern Texas to northern Michigan, with the potential for very large hail, damaging winds and possible isolated tornadoes. The weather will affect cities including Oklahoma City and Tulsa in Oklahoma, plus St. Louis, Indianapolis, Chicago and Detroit.
On Saturday, 12 million people will be at risk from southern Texas to southern Missouri including the cities of Abilene, Waco and Dallas in Texas. By Sunday, 11 million people will be at risk from eastern Texas through central Missouri.
The system will also create flood threats as repeated rounds of storms over the same areas will drop 2 to 4 inches of rain, and locally higher amounts of 5 to 6 inches.
It’ll culminate in a moderate risk of flooding by Saturday from eastern Oklahoma through western Illinois, with the cities at greatest risk including Tulsa; Fayetteville, Arkansas; and Springfield and St. Louis, Missouri.
In the Southwest, there’s an extreme risk of wildfires on Thursday, with 9 million people under red flag warnings across the Four Corners, Rockies and western Plains.
Wind gusts up to 60 mph combined with low humidity will lead to extremely critical fire risk, especially across New Mexico.
