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Another round of strong storms is hitting the Midwest, south

People are still sorting through the ruins of their homes After severe weather strikes Another wave of strong storms, including tornadoes, developed over the weekend, beginning to hit parts of the Midwest and South beginning Tuesday evening. Officials warned residents to prepare shelters before going to bed.

“This might be a night to set in the basement to be safe,” said Davenport, Iowa meteorologist Tom Phillip.

The National Weather Service began issuing tornado warnings for Iowa and Illinois Tuesday evening and said a confirmed twister was spotted near Bryant, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. No damage was immediately reported.

A tornado was also reported near Pleasantville, Iowa, the NWS said. Footage obtained by CBS News shows a twister spinning near Pleasantville.

A twister appears to be spinning near Pleasantville, Iowa on April 4, 2023.

Travis Kono/Story

There were no major power outages as of late Tuesday night, according to utility tracking website PowerOutage.us.

The storms were expected — and likely — to hammer some areas already hit by severe weather Dozens of tornadoes — that just days ago killed at least 33 people, meaning more grief for those whose homes were destroyed in Arkansas, Iowa and Illinois. Hazardous conditions may also extend to parts of Missouri, southwest Oklahoma, and northeast Texas. Further south and west, fire risk was greater.

Ryan Bunker, a meteorologist at the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma, predicted that Tuesday’s storm system could begin as an isolated supercell — with possible tornadoes, winds and hail — and “could develop into a line (of thunderstorms) and move eastward.”

Earlier Tuesday, strong thunderstorms lashed the Quad Cities area of ​​Iowa and Illinois with 90 mph winds and baseball-sized hail. No injuries were reported but trees were downed and some businesses were damaged in Moline, Illinois.

The weather service and Illinois Emergency Management also said a tornado touched down in the western Illinois community of Colner Tuesday morning.

The storm damaged a Shell gas station and a building behind it, the Colonna Police Department said. There were no injuries, but two people were evacuated from the Shell station, the police department said.

Colonna storm damage

Storm damage in Colonna, Illinois. April 4, 2023.

Colonna Police Department

Northern Illinois, from Moline to Chicago, saw 75-80 mph winds and hail 2 to 3 inches in diameter Tuesday afternoon, National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Baker said. The agency received reports of semi trucks blown by the wind in Lee County, about 95 miles west of Chicago

The risk of tornadoes was expected to be greatest in the upper Midwest Tuesday evening and late night, with storms targeting northern Illinois, eastern Iowa and southwestern Wisconsin. Areas in southern Missouri and Arkansas were most vulnerable overnight.

In Keokuk County, Iowa, where 19 homes were destroyed and more damaged Friday, emergency management official Marissa Reisen worried how damage crews would handle if another storm hit.

“All the people who were affected by the storm Friday night were doing all these things, cleaning up, collecting their belongings, collecting debris,” Reizen said. “If a storm comes and hits them again and throws all that hard work all over the place again, it’s going to be so isolating for those people.”

According to the Storm Prediction Center, severe storms could produce strong tornadoes and large hail Wednesday across eastern Illinois and lower Michigan and into the Ohio Valley, including Indiana and Ohio. The weather threat extends southwestward across parts of Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas.

The fierce storm that began Friday and continued into the weekend spawned deadly tornadoes in 11 states as the system moved through Arkansas and into the South, Midwest and Northeast.

The same conditions that fueled this storm — an area of ​​low pressure combined with strong southerly winds — produced severe weather early Tuesday into Wednesday, Bunker said.

These conditions, which usually include dry air from the west rising over the Rockies and crashing into warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, make the United States vulnerable to tornadoes and other deadly storms.

Dramatic temperature swings were expected, with highs of 74 in Des Moines on Tuesday and 86 in Kansas City plunging into a chilly 40 or less overnight. In Little Rock, Arkansas, Tuesday’s high of 89 tied the record for the date set in 1880.

A blizzard warning was in effect for nearly all of North Dakota and most of South Dakota until at least Wednesday night. The National Weather Service predicts parts of South Dakota could get up to 16 inches of snow and wind gusts of up to 55 mph.

Dozens of South Dakota schools were closed Tuesday due to the blizzard. The state executive branch offices were also closed in most parts of the state.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum on Tuesday signed $20 million in emergency snow removal grants for locals. Officials reminded residents to check on neighbors and keep their homes stocked with food, water and medicine, have battery-powered radios in case of power outages, and make sure gas meters and furnace vents are clear of snow.

In Minnesota, a winter storm warning was in effect in the north, while thunderstorms were expected in the southern part of the state that could include hail and strong winds. Expected weather has caused the Minnesota Twins to delay their Major League Baseball home opener from Thursday to Friday.

Low humidity, dry vegetation and high wind gusts remain a fire danger across parts of far western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, northeastern New Mexico and far southeastern Colorado. Officials issued a fire warning for Custer County in western Oklahoma and urged some residents near the town of Weatherford to evacuate their homes because of the blaze.

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