More Severe Storms Target Midwest

Published: Aug 31, 2013, 6:50 AM EDT weather.com

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Kicking off the Labor Day holiday weekend, another round of severe thunderstorms is expected to erupt in parts of the Plains and Midwest.

National Forecast: Next 12 Hours

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Saturday, sufficient moisture and instability coupled with an advancing jet-stream level disturbance will fire off strong thunderstorms in the northern Plains from the eastern Dakotas into Minnesota Saturday afternoon, spreading southward into eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, southern Minnesota and possibly northern Kansas and northwest Missouri Saturday night into early Sunday morning.   

The main threat from these storms will be large hail, high winds and frequent lightning. That said, a tornado or two may touch down in parts of northern Minnesota or the eastern Dakotas.

Scattered thunderstorms will also flare up from the Ohio Valley into the Appalachians, New England, Florida and the northern Gulf Coast. A brief damaging wind gust, along with heavy rain and frequent lightning, is possible only in the strongest storms.

Thunderstorms will also be plentiful from the Desert Southwest into the central Rockies with a deep plume of moisture in place. Flash flooding (along with frequent lightning) is the primary threat from the Mojave Desert of California into southern Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and far northern New Mexico.