Third straight weekend of severe weather looms for millions across central, southern US
Areas devastated by deadly tornado outbreaks earlier this month will be on alert this weekend.
The strengthening system could produce damaging winds, large hail and tornadoes.
Severe weather is possible from the Gulf Coast to the Ohio Valley on Sunday and from the Southeast to mid-Atlantic on Monday.
It's been an extremely active month when it comes to severe weather, and unfortunately, that trend is likely to continue as we head into the final weekend of March.
So far, the FOX Forecast Center said there have been more than 2,000 severe weather reports this month, including more than 100 confirmed tornadoes during deadly severe weather outbreaks.
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"As we take a look at the beginning of severe weather season, it started with a bang, right?" FOX Weather Meteorologist Craig Herrera said. "We've already seen a slew of deadly tornadoes crop up. And this month, it's not even over yet."
More than 40 people were killed nearly two weeks ago as a monster storm system swept across the U.s., producing tornadoes, dust storms, blizzard conditions and wildfires.
Thunderstorms packing vivid lightning and hurricane-force winds knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of utility customers, and communities from the Plains to the Southeast are still working to remove debris and begin the recovery process.
Before that, millions of people were impacted by severe weather that blasted across the same areas. Some Mardi Gras celebrations in the New Orleans area were forced to be postponed due to the threat, and damage was reported in Texas and Oklahoma.
Deaths were also reported in Mississippi due to the severe weather outbreak.
How Public Safety Officials Notify You During Severe Weather Emergencies
The FOX Forecast Center is now monitoring the potential for another multiday severe weather threat as we close out March this weekend.
Forecasters say the developing storm system is expected to move into the Plains by late Saturday and strengthen as it tracks off to the east during the overnight hours.
By Sunday, the system will keep getting stronger and will likely bring the threat of severe weather across a large portion of the U.S. stretching from the Gulf Coast to the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes region.
More than 40 million people will need to prepare for the possibility of strong to severe thunderstorms in major cities across the region, including Birmingham in Alabama, Little Rock in Arkansas, Nashville and Memphis in Tennessee, St. Louis in Missouri and Indianapolis in Indiana.
The forecast is still several days away, and the forecast will continue to be updated as we get closer to the weekend. However, it appears that the system will be capable of producing large hail, damaging wind gusts and tornadoes over a very large area of the nation.
Buzzwords You Could Hear During Severe Weather
The threat will then shift to the East Coast from the Southeast to mid-Atlantic on Monday, putting about 28 million people on alert for possible severe weather. The threat zone includes major cities like Atlanta in Georgia and Charlotte and Raleigh in North Carolina.
Be sure to download the free FOX Weather app and enable notifications to be alerted if there are changes to the forecast.Original article source: Third straight weekend of severe weather looms for millions across central, southern US
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