A dangerous line of severe thunderstorms is pushing east across the Mid-South today, and the National Weather Service in Memphis is not mincing words about the road threat.
A Tornado Watch is active across portions of Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Missouri through Sunday evening. The NWS Memphis office confirmed wind gusts up to 45 MPH are already being recorded ahead of the line, with the main squall expected to produce gusts reaching 70 MPH as it sweeps east this afternoon and evening.
The primary threats are damaging straight-line winds, brief tornadoes, and large hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter. According to the Storm Prediction Center, the greatest tornado and wind threat is concentrated from the Arkansas-Louisiana-Mississippi corridor through the Lower Ohio Valley, with the worst window running from roughly 4 PM to midnight CDT.
The System Extends Into Monday
This isn’t a brief afternoon storm. The Weather Prediction Center forecasts the cold front to continue pushing east through Monday morning, carrying the severe weather threat into the Ohio Valley, Tennessee Valley, and Deep South. By early Monday, the highest risk shifts to the Mid-Atlantic corridor…