Hail and falling branches caused damage to cars and roofs across portions of the Great Plains, and tornadoes were reported in Kansas and Oklahoma, but the region was spared the destructive twisters that forecasters said could have been spawned by the storm system. Strong gusty winds, lightning, hail and isolated tornadoes are possible with this storm.
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As the morning thunderstorms moved into Missouri, however, they left behind cloudy skies and cooler temperatures across Nebraska, limiting some of the instability needed to produce severe weather, forecasters said.
Businesses set out to protect their goods ahead of storms while school districts sent children home early, hoping they would make it to safety before twisters, 4-inch hail and 80 miles per hour winds raked the landscape.
Omaha, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; Wichita, Kansas; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Dallas, Waco, Austin and San Antonio, Texas, are all in the forecast area.
Marshall County (Kansas) emergency manager Bill Schwindamann said hailstones started small around 5 p.m. before growing to as much as 4 inches in diameter.
National Weather Service teams are also investigating reports of at least six other possible twisters from Tuesday’s storms, including two in Texas, two in Kansas, one in IN and another in Missouri.
The threat for severe storms returns Tuesday afternoon and evening.
The 51-year-old Eischen says the town of Fairview has never been hit by a tornado, but it is close to the sites of two large earthquakes recorded earlier this year.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Forecasters are warning that severe storms could bring “significant” tornadoes and grapefruit-sized hail to the Great Plains on Tuesday, while severe thunderstorms and strong wind gusts are predicted for Mid-Atlantic states where voters are casting ballots in primary elections.
“This is a particularly unsafe situation”, the Storm Prediction Center alerted in red type in an afternoon advisory. The aircraft was sent to Spokane, Washington state and North Dakota.
An area of low pressure and trailing cold front will give us the ingredients needed to strengthen storms again Wednesday afternoon.
More than 195 reports of hail-related damage emerged from the storm, the Storm Prediction Center said. It was one of several districts that implemented new safety measures following the Moore, Oklahoma, EF5 tornado that killed seven children at Plaza Towers Elementary School on May 20, 2013.
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In all, about 70 million people nationwide were at a slight risk or higher of severe weather.
