Storms Could Bring Tornadoes and Damaging Winds to Midwest

Millions of people across the Midwest faced an elevated risk of tornadoes, large hail and strong winds on Tuesday, the latest in a run of severe weather striking the region in recent weeks.

The areas most vulnerable to damaging storms stretch from Kansas City, Mo., to Milwaukee, with the highest probability of tornadoes and damaging winds across Iowa, including Iowa City and Davenport.

About 4 million people were under a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms.

Here are some essential things to know.

• The Weather Service issued a tornado watch for Iowa, northwest Illinois, southeast Minnesota and western Wisconsin until 9 p.m., adding that the region faced a “particularly dangerous situation” that could spawn several destructive tornadoes and hail as large as four inches in diameter.

• At least two possible tornadoes were spotted in southwestern Iowa on Tuesday afternoon, WHO-TV of Des Moines reported, as the Weather Service began issuing tornado warnings in the state.

• Flood watches were in effect across a large swath of Iowa.

• Damaging wind gusts above 75 miles per hour will become more likely as the storms evolve into a line across southeastern Iowa and Northern Illinois.

Pea-size hail, heavy rains and strong winds swept through Madison County, Iowa, southwest of Des Moines, in a first round of storms on Tuesday morning, county emergency management officials said. Residents were warned to shelter from the storm, which was expected to peak between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

School districts closed early or did not hold classes at all.

This region has been no stranger to tornadoes this year, including reports of tornadoes in the Chicago area. There have been more than 150 preliminary reports of tornadoes in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri so far this year. Most of those reports occurred before May and June, which are typically the peak period for tornadic weather for these states.

There was some uncertainty on Tuesday about how much the morning storms may affect the storms that are expected to form in the afternoon. The morning storms could end soon enough that the weather conditions will rebound, and there will be enough energy for damaging storms to occur during the afternoon.

The risk of severe storms will persist into the Upper Great Lakes region overnight into Wednesday morning.

Christine Hauser and Orlando Mayorquín contributed reporting.