Breakfast brief: Big storms for Plains

Breakfast brief
Big storms for Plains

Tuesday May 21 WeatherRadar

A massive outbreak of severe storms will affect more than 40-million people today from Oklahoma to the Upper Midwest and western Great Lakes.

1949 St. Louis

A tornado, estimated to be F4 in strength, hit St. Louis before crossing the Mississippi River into Illinois on this day in 1949. It destroyed an estimated 300 buildings and killed five people.

Today's weather outlook

The WeatherRadar is showing a new storm system moving out of the western high Plains and the central Rockies. It will continue to grow as it moves to the northeast into the upper Midwest. The system's cold front will be the focus point for severe thunderstorms from Oklahoma northeastward into the western Great Lakes.

Tuesday preview across the U.S.

The rest of the eastern and central U.S. will be hot today. The East and South will climb into the low 80s to middle 80s, with 90s found Texas and parts of Florida. The West will stay unseasonably mild with a few spots of California's Central Valley and the Southwest reaching into the upper 80s and low 90s.

Here is what we are watching today:

Big severe threat across the Plains

Flood threat across Central Plains

Heat builds across the East