Storms, rainfall kick off Memorial Day weekend in parts of US
The Memorial Day weekend kicked off with a multi-day thunderstorm and heavy rainfall system hitting the south-central part of the country, forecasters said.
Nearly 4 million people were under a severe thunderstorm watch the morning of Saturday, May 24, across a large swath of Oklahoma and part of Arkansas. The risk of severe storms stretches from the southern Plains to the Southeast, with isolated severe storms possible in South Florida, the Storm Prediction Center said. A risk of showers and thunderstorms also exists in states in the middle and lower Mississippi Valley and Tennessee Valley, according to the National Weather Service.
The storms could bring frequent lightning, severe wind gusts, hail and even a few tornadoes.
A large portion of the center of the country will likely see a wet, rainy holiday weekend, forecasters said.
Scattered rain and showers in the Great Lakes region and Northeast are expected over the weekend but ending by Memorial Day, the weather service said.
A stationery front from the Southeast into the Northern Plains and central Rocky Mountain region will extend through the holiday, creating showers, thunderstorms and some heavy rain, also putting the area at risk of flash flooding. Nearly 4 million people were under a flood watch on May 24 that centered around southeastern Kansas, southwestern Missouri and northern Arkansas.
"The associated heavy rain will create mainly localized areas of flash flooding, with urban areas, roads, small streams, and low-lying areas the most vulnerable," the weather service said.
The threat of excessive rainfall increases on May 25 for states in the central and southern Plains, the middle and lower Mississippi Valley and the Tennessee Valley, forecasters said. Flash flooding remains a risk there later in the weekend. Through May 26, the risk for thunderstorms in the region persists, especially for hail greater than 2 inches over parts of the southern High Plains.
There have been over 900 preliminary reports of tornadoes in 2025, making this year the busiest for tornadoes since 2011, according to AccuWeather. The 922 reports logged through late May is 281 more than the historical average of 641 for this time of year, the outlet said.
The four states with the most tornado reports are Mississippi, Illinois, Missouri and Texas. Each of those states has seen between 87 and 97 tornadoes so far, AccuWeather reported.
A mid-May rash of tornadoes that broke out across the central part of the country left a deadly trail in its wake, with over two dozen dead in Kentucky and Missouri. The deaths were concentrated in London, Kentucky, and Laurel County, where at least 17 people were killed on May 16. Five were killed in St. Louis the same day.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Severe weather hits south-central US to start holiday weekend
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