(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK) — A once-in-a generation extreme weather event is beginning Wednesday with a tornado outbreak and will continue into the weekend with four days of dangerous flooding pounding the same region.
First, wind gusts up to 50 mph are possible all day Wednesday for more than 65 million Americans across 13 states from Texas to Ohio.
A tornado watch is in place for Oklahoma, eastern Kansas and northwest Missouri on Wednesday morning. At least two tornadoes have already been reported in Missouri on Wednesday morning.
There’s a rare high risk (level 5 of 5) warning for destructive storms, which could bring strong, long-track tornadoes of EF3+ strength, very large hail up to the size of tennis balls and destructive winds greater than 70 mph.
Wednesday’s high risk area spans Jonesboro, Arkansas, to Memphis, Tennessee, to Paducah, Kentucky. The high risk lasts from Wednesday afternoon until midnight.
A level 5 of 5 high risk is issued less than 1% of days; people within the area are three times more likely to be hit by a tornado than in a 1 of 5 risk area.
A level 4 of 5 warning is in effect from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Louisville, Kentucky.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has declared a state of emergency.
“We’re really concerned about people’s safety, especially in the overnight, because when storms or tornadoes hit while people are asleep, that’s sadly when we’ve lost the most people,” he said in a statement. “So, everybody out there, be really careful.”
But the biggest threat is from the rain.
Historically high rainfall will create a particularly dangerous situation, or PDS, for flooding Wednesday through Sunday.
Nearly 4 million Americans are under the PDS flood watch in Arkansas, northern Mississippi and western Tennessee through Sunday morning. Cities in the PDS flood watch include Memphis, Little Rock, Jonesboro and Union City.
On Wednesday, a moderate risk for excessive rainfall (level 3 of 4) is in place from Little Rock to Memphis to Nashville to Louisville.
Overall, more than 32 million Americans are under a general flood watch until Sunday morning. Major cities in this general flood watch include Louisville, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Detroit.
On Thursday, the flood threat grows even more extreme over the same area. A rare high risk (level 4 of 4) from excessive rainfall will be in place from Jonesboro to the Memphis suburbs to Paducah.
On Friday, a moderate risk (level 3 of 4) for excessive rainfall is in place from just north of Dallas to Jonesboro to St. Louis.
On Saturday, the final day of this multiday life-threatening event will bring even more heavy rain from Jonesboro to Memphis to Louisville to Cincinnati.
The four-day event will leave 10 to 15 inches of rain or more over the bull’s-eye area from Jonesboro to Paducah. Seven to 10 inches of rain is possible from Little Rock to Memphis to Louisville to Cincinnati.
The system will finally be on the move Sunday afternoon, bringing rain to the Southeast on Sunday evening, Monday and Tuesday.
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