More than 25 million people are under a level 3 of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms Sunday, according to the Storm Prediction Center. Large hail and tornado activity is expected.
Nashville, Indianapolis and St. Louis are just a few of the major cities included in this wide-reaching risk. An additional 45 million people are under a level 2 of 5 risk in surrounding areas, including Dallas, Chicago and Cleveland.
Storms will begin late Sunday afternoon from Illinois to eastern Texas and get more violent as they expand east Sunday evening and overnight through much of the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee valleys.
Very large hail bigger than golf balls, damaging wind gusts and tornadoes are expected, according to the SPC.
The atmosphere will be primed for tornadoes and a few could be strong – rated EF2 or greater – and long-lived, the SPC warned.
Most of the strongest thunderstorms will occur after dark and increase the danger: Nighttime tornadoes are nearly twice as likely to be deadly as those occurring during the day, a 2022 study found.
Some storms will also dump heavy rainfall which could cause flash flooding anywhere from the South through the Midwest.
