Dry and pleasant conditions that graced the Midwest to kick off the week will be replaced by a heightened risk of severe weather on Tuesday.”A vigorous cold front slamming into warm, humid air over the Midwest will be the spark for severe thunderstorm development later on Tuesday,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Renee Duff said.Duff added that the thunderstorms will wait until the late-day hours to erupt, generally developing around the afternoon rush hour.Cities such as Minneapolis; Eau Claire, Wausau and Madison, Wisconsin; Des Moines, Iowa; and Omaha, Nebraska, lie in the crosshairs of Tuesday’s violent storms. It will not take long for the thunderstorms to turn severe after they fire up.”The storms will threaten to produce damaging winds, very large hail and torrential downpours,” according to Duff.While most of the storms will produce wind gusts of 50-60 mph, the strongest storms can produce an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 70 mph.Winds of this magnitude can produce widespread tree and property damage and down power lines, which could lead to sporadic power outages.In addition, shingles can be torn off roofs, and loose, outdoor objects could be turned into dangerous projectiles.A few tornadoes, some of which could be strong, are also possible, especially during the early evening hours, Duff warned.It a tornado warning is issued for your community, be sure to take shelter in a basement, underground shelter or interior room to minimize the risk of being injured by flying debris.Those with travel plans on stretches of interstates 29, 35, 80, 90 and 94 that lie within Tuesday’s threat zone should be prepared for rapid reductions in roadway visibility and a heightened risk of hydroplaning while traveling at highway speeds.Travel delays and backups on interstates and secondary roadways will also be possible, especially since the storms will be most intense around and shortly after rush hour.Any incidents of large hail, on the local level, could threaten to destroy crops that have yet to be harvested.”Since the severe weather will continue through the first half of the night, it is also a good idea to keep cell phones charged with the volume turned up and severe weather alerts enabled before heading to bed,” Duff stated.The storms should lose much of their intensity before reaching Chicago and St. Louis late Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, and tranquil conditions are expected to return to the Midwest on Wednesday in the wake of the storms.
