MINNESOTA — Significant severe weather continues to appear probable Monday afternoon, evening, and potentially into the overnight hours across portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa. Intense thunderstorms are most likely to develop quickly during the early to mid-afternoon hours before moving southeast into the evening.
Forecasters warn that a cluster of thunderstorms could ride a warm front for several hours, producing swaths of damaging wind gusts potentially reaching hurricane force strength of 74 mph or higher, along with a few tornadoes.
Significant Risk Zone Centers Over Iowa Into Southern Wisconsin
The highest-risk significant zone is centered over central and eastern Iowa, including Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, and Iowa City, extending northeast toward Madison and Rockford. This area faces the greatest likelihood of intense, long-lived thunderstorms Monday afternoon and evening.
Development is expected to occur quickly along the northwest fringe of the outlined risk areas before storms track southeast, with the exact position of the warm front ultimately dictating where the most significant severe weather occurs.
Hurricane Force Wind Gusts Possible With Long-Lived Storm Clusters
Forecasters emphasize that a cluster of thunderstorms riding the warm front could produce damaging wind gusts potentially reaching hurricane force strength, meaning sustained winds of 74 mph or greater within the most intense segments of the storm complex…