Big weekend changes with today's Plains severe threat

Waves of strong to severe thunderstorms will roll across the central U.S. later this afternoon and tonight, bringing the risk of hail, damaging winds and tornadoes. This will usher in cooler changes this weekend.

The WeatherRadar shows thunderstorms quickly developing this afternoon from Oklahoma to the upper Great Lakes. Dangerous storms could roll through Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Des Moines, Iowa, and the Twin Cities during the evening rush hour.

These storms are developing a strong cold front that will sweep eastward this weekend. It will bring storms to the Midwest and western Great Lakes tonight before rolling across the southern Plains, the Mississippi and Ohio valleys and the lower Midwest Saturday. It will move across the East on Sunday.

The cold front will also break the early-season heat wave baking the East this week. A big weekend cooldown will occur, with the TemperatureRadar showing 20 to 30-degree temperature drops.