Severe weather outbreak likely

Severe storms are likely to develop later today across the mid-Mississippi River valley. Areas outlined in red on the map below have the highest risk.

There are two things that will make this event especially dangerous.

1. It's still early in the year and many people just aren't in severe weather mode yet, so they tend to be caught off guard. The dynamics with this weather system are pretty good for this early in the season and we could see pretty strong storms ... maybe even some long-track tornadoes.


2. The event will start later on Sunday and run into the early morning hours on Monday. No matter what time of the year, nighttime storms pose additional hazards since many are sleeping and unaware of warnings.