ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Nobody wants to see any sort of severe weather. However, the folks in the Midwest and deep south have been contending with some very “rough and tumble” weather for the past several weeks. Places like Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Tennessee, and even as far north as Michigan have seen some destruction from thunderstorms and tornadoes. On Monday the Storm Prediction Center, which is a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), issued a convective outlook for severe weather for many of these same locations. Tuesday the risk area has expanded for the Upper Midwest. In particular, this includes portions of Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, and Iowa. In these areas, there is a high potential for supercell thunderstorms. These storms could produce large hail and EF2 tornadoes or greater.

Naturally, we are tracking this severe weather as it moves across the country. By Wednesday we expect this area of concern to move into the Mid-Mississippi Valley and the Ohio Valley. The overall threat area begins to diminish somewhat, but the threat area does get closer to Rochester. News 10NBC has issued a Yellow Alert for Wednesday, especially in the afternoon and evening. This is due to the potential for thunderstorms, but what is the threat within any of these thunderstorms? Fortunately, the latest computer modeling data shows the threat level is low for tornadoes, large hail, or flooding. However, as these storms approach it appears the area of greatest concern is a moderate risk for strong straight-line winds.

As new information arrives, the data will be adjusted, but given the latest forecast, it is recommended that you secure loose items in the yard and make sure you tune into News 10NBC’s First Alert weather for updates on the forecast.