Our team has activated a Weather Authority Alert for Tuesday to Wednesday mornings. Multiple thunderstorms are possible, some of which can become severe. There will also be an increased risk of flash flooding overnight into early Wednesday morning.
Most of the Local 6 area is under a Level 3 increased risk of severe thunderstorms. This upgrade was primarily for a complex of storms expected to blow through the area early Tuesday afternoon. These storms can be accompanied by scattered wind gusts in a straight line of up to 100-120 km per hour. With this afternoon round, sprinkle hail is also possible, possibly from quarter to golf ball size hail. The tornado threat is low with these afternoon storms, but a brief flare-up cannot be completely ruled out.
A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for most of the area until 4 p.m.
A second round of possible severe weather may develop during the night, with scattered threats of wind and hail. But the bigger threat for the overnight hours into early Wednesday morning is the potential that areas of heavy rain will develop and move over the same areas repeatedly, potentially leading to flash flooding.
There is still some uncertainty as to exactly where the storms will develop overnight, but the most likely scenario is that a broken line of storms will target from southern Illinois to western Kentucky. Wherever this area of storms occurs, there will be a chance for a narrow band of heavy rainfall that could produce at least 3-5 inches in total, which could cause significant flash flooding. This could be particularly dangerous as it would be very likely that the effects of flooding could occur before sunrise, making it difficult to see where there is water on the roads. There may also be flooding that a few commuters will have to deal with during the morning commute.
Make sure your WPSD Radar app is enabled and notifications are enabled to receive alerts. And be sure to stay with the Weather Authority today and tonight as we monitor these storms.
