En esta noticia
The central United States is preparing for several unsettled days. The NOAA Storm Prediction Center (SPC) forecasts severe thunderstorms with hail, heavy rain, and strong wind gusts this Wednesday across a broad swath stretching from the Ohio Valley to the Great Plains.
August’s big storm is coming
The system will bring severe storms capable of producing hail, heavy rain, and potentially damaging wind gusts. The main threats identified by meteorologists are hail and wind gusts, which in the strongest storms can reach severe levels.
The setup brings together the classic ingredients for strong storms: a large amount of energy available in the atmosphere and marked temperature gradients aloft, driven by disturbances in the middle levels of the atmosphere. The combination favors the development of cells capable of becoming severe.
24 hours of thunderstorms with hail and heavy rain, plus wind gusts of 56 mph
To gauge the level of danger, it is worth knowing the official criterion. NOAA and the SPC consider a storm severe when it produces at least one of these three phenomena:
- Hail 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter or larger
- Wind gusts of 93 km/h (58 mph) or more
- A tornado
During today’s forecast, the expected threats are hail and wind gusts, which can reach or exceed the 58 mph threshold in the strongest storms.
Which areas will be most affected by the storm?
The risk area stretches across the central and east-central part of the country, with two main focus areas:
- Ohio Valley and central Appalachians: storms with severe wind gusts are the main threat in this farther eastern swath.
- Great Plains (western Nebraska and southwestern South Dakota): here the instability axis favors scattered afternoon storms, with hail and strong gusts as notable risks.