Sixth Day of Severe Storms Threatens Central U.S. Flooding, Hail

The central U.S. faced its sixth straight day of severe weather as repeated rounds of thunderstorms kept flood concerns alive and put northeast Texas in a Moderate Risk zone for very large to giant hail. The Weather Prediction Center said a quasi-stationary boundary and strong instability were feeding storm after storm, with widespread thunderstorms expected to continue through the overnight hours.

That persistence matters as much as the next radar sweep. Six days of watches and warnings have left communities from the Tennessee Valley to the Lower Mississippi Valley, the ArkLaTex and north Texas absorbing one hit after another, while emergency crews, school districts, insurers and power crews keep resetting for the next round. The Weather Prediction Center’s Day 3-7 Hazards Outlook, created April 28 and valid May 1 through May 5, also flagged flooding hazards into early May, signaling that swollen creeks and saturated ground could remain a problem even after the strongest storms shift east.

The latest threat comes after a violent mid-to-late April stretch that has already produced major damage across the region. The April 13-14 outbreak generated 39 confirmed tornadoes and 785 hail reports across seven states, including two reports of 6-inch hail and an EF3 tornado. Another outbreak on April 17 produced at least 80 confirmed tornadoes, according to AccuWeather, making it the biggest tornado outbreak of 2026 so far.

That April 17 system stretched roughly 650 miles from Oklahoma to Michigan and tore through Wisconsin and Illinois with exceptional force. Two EF3 tornadoes struck Wisconsin, northern Illinois recorded 39 tornadoes, and more than 370 buildings were damaged in Lena, Illinois, where 19 were destroyed. An EF2 tornado near Lena produced winds estimated at 130 mph, underscoring how quickly the damage escalated as the storms tracked east.

The human toll has already grown, with storms across the central U.S. killing at least one person and causing injuries during the late-April severe-weather sequence. As NOAA teams continue issuing watches, warnings and damage surveys, the central concern is no longer just tonight’s hail or flash flooding. It is the cumulative strain on towns, roofs, roadways and power systems after nearly a week of violent spring weather with no clean break in sight.