Ozarks’ stormy Sunday: Over 18 million at risk of severe storms

There is a large area at risk of damaging winds, hail, and tornadoes Sunday afternoon into the evening. Residents across the south-central plains, lower Missouri, and Tennessee Valleys should pay close attention to the severe weather threat.

Although the area at risk of severe weather is large the risk is at a level 2 out of 3 in the severity scale. This means that if you are in the region highlighted in yellow there could be isolated severe storms which could bring some damaging winds of at least 60 mph, hail, and a tornado or two can’t be ruled out.

But there is an enhanced risk, level 3 out of 5 which lies across much of the Ozarks. In this region, cities like Springfield, Mo., Joplin, Mo., Rogers, Ark., and Bella Vista, Ark., need to be especially aware of the strong storms that will be building throughout the afternoon and into the evening and likely turning severe. These severe storms will likely bring more wind damage, larger hail, and a few more tornadoes.

Make sure to have at least 3 ways of receiving weather alerts. Turn on and leave the notifications on your phone. Make sure to track how the storms will move and their timing in our WeatherRadar.

There are a couple of low-pressure systems traveling over the central region of the U.S., dragging a few fronts. Expect one of the low-pressure systems to move over the Midwest and another low that will be creating severe action across the Ozarks and the Tennessee Valley. This second low travels slowly to the east and we expect it to merge with the low’s front (located just north of it) by Monday and bring another round of severe weather, this time across parts of the Mid-Atlantic in the afternoon.

In the upper levels of the atmosphere the solid high pressure bringing all the heat across the south, from Texas through Florida, continues to hold firm. Along with the surface lows, there is a trough that will finally break the upper high by mid-week, which may bring some much-awaited relief from the heat after a couple of scorching weeks. Of course, this “high breakup’’ will also allow for some more shower and storm activity as there will be more instability entering the area.