Natalia Chi
A series of severe storms, likely accompanied by deadly tornadoes, are expected to hit parts of the Midwest and South in the coming weeks, especially on Friday, meteorologists said.
Last week, an unusual weather pattern began that led to a devastating tornado that hit Rolling Fork, Mississippi. Meteorologists fear he will be one of the worst days this Friday. The National Weather Service said 16.8 million people live in the areas most at risk, and overall he said more than 66 million should be on alert on Friday.
“Obviously someone is going to put it on their nose on Friday,” said Victor Gencini, a meteorology professor, tornado expert and tracker in Northern Illinois. “It’s a question of when and where. .”
The Japan Meteorological Agency is alerting large areas of the country – Thunderstorms, tornadoes, including parts of Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, West Virginia, Georgia, Kansas, Other harmful winds. Large cities in the most dangerous areas include Memphis, St. Louis, Des Moines, and Little Rock.
Gensini fears Friday’s onslaught will be deadly.
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The storm is expected to start Friday afternoon and continue overnight. This is especially dangerous because people often cannot see the storm coming and do not seek shelter.
“The storm will move very quickly,” Elliot said. “So we don’t have a lot of time to respond to warnings. So now is the time to start preparing.”
All the ingredients for a dangerous storm are there, Elliott and his colleagues said, but they may not combine precisely enough to pose the threat meteorologists are warning about.
Another series of severe storms, powered by a “fire hose” of atmospheric unsettled waves that continue to flow from the cold west and combine with moist air from the east, are expected next Tuesday and in the days to come. It could hit, said Walker Ashley, another meteorology professor in northern Illinois and a storm-tracking partner of Genzini.
“We could see these things a few days ago,” Ashley said. They will be “continuous punches, 1, 2, 3, 4”.
Elliot said the weather service is already predicting with a high degree of confidence another severe storm next Tuesday in the same area as Friday.
AccuWeather meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said at least the first 10 days of April will be stormy.
The current persistent pattern in storm composition reminds Gensini of the April 2011 tornado onslaught that hit Alabama the hardest, killing 363 people in six states.it was one of them Largest, deadliest and most devastating tornado outbreak In American history, the weather service said.
[ Tornado recovery tough in Mississippi, one of poorest states ]
Even before Friday, it had been “the most active in years” since around November last year, with numerous winter storms throughout the year.
Buckingham and other meteorologists believe that the current situation could occur only once every few years, with the potential for supercell trains and the worst possible tornadoes and hail.
At its heart is a high-speed, roller-coaster-like jet stream. This is the river of air that moves weather systems, such as storms, from west to east. The west side of the jet stream is frigid air, and the east side, off Florida and the Caribbean, is a very warm, dry, high-pressure system.
“Combining the two will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up,” Buckingham said.
In addition, the Gulf of Mexico, which provides moisture, heat and energy for storms, About 2 to 5 degrees Celsius (1 to 1.5 degrees Celsius) As Ashley said, meteorologists said it was warmer than average or even warmer.
“Additional warmth and humidity really cause these thunderstorms,” said Buckingham.
The worst weather will be a battlefield of sorts, “under a clash” of hot and cold air, Gencini said. 19 degrees), but just 140 miles (225 kilometers) northwest in Brookings, South Dakota, it is forecast to be barely above freezing.
“The greater the temperature gradient, the stronger the storm system,” said Gencini.
Winds swirling in opposite directions to the west and east of the jet stream battlefield are exacerbating the problem, meteorologists said.
Ashley said the current situation was mostly random weather fluctuations, but that warming in the Gulf of Mexico and man-made climate change may have had a small impact.
“These events are happening all the time,” Ashley said. “The problem is turning the knob a bit by bringing in more moisture, more heat, more instability?”
