Southern storms: 20 million within the South are prone to extreme storms and tornadoes

CNN
 — 

Greater than 20 million individuals from japanese Texas to the Southeast face a menace of extreme thunderstorms starting Monday afternoon, with some areas bracing for the opportunity of sturdy tornadoes.

“Damaging winds and several other tornadoes, a number of of which can be sturdy, would be the main hazards,” forecasters on the Storm Prediction Middle mentioned early Monday. Hail greater than golf balls can be doable.

Extreme thunderstorms are more likely to blow throughout japanese Texas Monday afternoon earlier than marching throughout the decrease Mississippi Valley and towards Alabama via the evening, the storm heart mentioned.

An enhanced danger stage for extreme storms, or a Stage 3 of 5, has been issued for components of japanese Texas, northern Louisiana and central Mississippi, together with Jackson, Mississippi, and Alexandria, Louisiana, the middle mentioned. The best danger for sturdy tornadoes that would ship wind speeds in extra of 111 mph – EF2-strength or stronger – lies on this area.

The storms might convey a short reprieve to drought-stricken Louisiana and Mississippi, which may see extreme rainfall of as much as 2 inches on Monday, and as many as 3 inches in some areas, in line with the Climate Prediction Middle.

The identical storm that can ship extreme thunderstorms to the South blew via the Rockies over the weekend, leaving heavy mountain snowfall piled practically a foot excessive in a number of components of Utah, Nevada and Colorado, preliminary snow stories present.

Elements of Utah noticed a foot or extra of snow, adopted intently by some cities in Nevada.

Listed here are a few of the newest preliminary snowfall totals reported by the Nationwide Climate Service:

Decrease elevations had been nonetheless heat sufficient to obtain rainfall, with storm totals of 1 to three inches reported and remoted totals exceeding 3 inches.