Heartland braced for tornadoes, giant hail as severe storms spread

Millions across the Heartland faced the day’s most dangerous storm window as forecasters warned of long-track tornadoes, giant hail and destructive wind gusts from eastern Iowa through northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, with Chicago under a tornado watch through Friday evening. The most urgent concern centered on isolated supercells capable of producing EF-3 or stronger tornadoes before storms lined up into a broader squall line later in the day.

The Storm Prediction Center placed a broad corridor from northern Oklahoma into Wisconsin under a Level 3 of 5 severe-weather risk, including Kansas City, Des Moines and Chicago. In parts of northwest Oklahoma, central and eastern Kansas and west-central Missouri, the risk was even higher at Level 4 of 5, putting cities such as Wichita, Topeka and Kansas City in a more volatile zone. Forecasts also put the Upper Mississippi Valley in the best position for strong tornadoes, while the central United States faced the greater hail threat.

The outbreak had already produced more than 100 tornado warnings and carved a damage path stretching roughly 1,500 miles from the Plains into the Midwest. At the peak of the event, more than 51 million people were under severe-weather threat from Texas to Wisconsin, underscoring how widely the system spread across the country. More than 100,000 customers across the Midwest, including Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri, were left without power as tornados, wind and lightning knocked out service.

The damage reports were broad and in some cases violent. A tornado flipped a semi-tractor near Elgin, Minnesota, and damaged two farmsteads, while another storm damaged homes in Marion, Minnesota, near Rochester. Hail as large as quarters fell in Kasota and New Ulm, Minnesota, and tennis-ball-size hail was reported near Tama, Iowa. In Illinois, tornado reports came from Lena and near Rockton, and the Stephenson County Sheriff’s Office warned people to avoid Lena because trees and wires were down.

Flooding added another layer of danger. Heavy rain rates of 1 to 2 inches an hour threatened localized flash flooding in parts of Missouri and Illinois, where the ground was already saturated. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for 33 counties because of record flooding, while rivers in Michigan and Wisconsin had already hit or were forecast to reach major or record flood levels in more than 20 locations. As the storms moved on, the immediate task shifted from watching the sky to clearing roads, restoring power and assessing how much of the Heartland had been hit at once.