Wednesday's live blog - Rare severe threat amid historic flooding

Watch our live storm chase here. A high risk, a level 5 out of 5 on the severity scale, has been issued for severe weather on Wednesday through the overnight. Additionally, a moderate risk, a level 3 out of 4 on the excessive rainfall scale, has also been issued as a spring storm impacts the Mississippi and Ohio valleys. This live blog will be updated throughout the day on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.

A line of storms stretches nearly 650 miles from Arkansas to Michigan. As this line moves east, the tornado threat continues. Keep an eye on the WeatherRadar and our live stream.

Highway 18 west of Lake City, Ark., to Monette, Ark., has been closed due to damage.

A large tornado was spotted near Monette, Ark. This is the same storm that tracked near Lake City, Ark.

A tornado emergency has been issued for a tornado on the ground near Lake City, Ark., east of Jonesboro.

The environment in eastern Arkansas, western Tennessee, far southeastern Missouri and northwest Mississippi will remain favorable for tornado-producing supercell storms over the next couple of hours. Stay alert!

Damage from a tornado has been reported in Potosi, Mo., not far from St. Louis. The image below shows the tornado as it moved through this community, causing damage to multiple homes.

A wall cloud has been spotted but our storm chasers in west Tennessee. Watch the stream here.

Our weather reporter Jonathan Petramala is in west Tennessee tracking a tornado-warned storm near Jackson, Tenn. Watch our live stream here.

Thousands of lightning strikes can be seen on our WeatherRadar and LightningRadar as this line of storms plus the cluster ahead continues to charge eastward. Have the latest version of the app downloaded to make sure you are receiving the best information from the Weather & Radar app.

A potentially dangerous situation tornado watch is in effect through Midnight local time for eastern Arkansas to Evansville, Ind. Peak tornado intensity up to 190 mph is possible in these storms and any tornadoes that do form are moving through primed conditions.

Daytime heating plus plentiful moisture coming out of the Gulf of Mexico has made the atmosphere unstable. If you are within this watch area, be sure to have your shelter location planned. Mobile or manufactured homes are not safe shelters.

A long storm line that has been progressing since the overnight hours continues east Wednesday with tornado watches in effect. Hail, damaging gusts, thousands of lightning strikes and tornadoes have already been reported today, but the highest risk comes later and, unfortunately, after dark.

Not to be outdone, a historic flooding event is becoming more likely due to the slow movement of this storm. Training showers and storms are expected to drop as much as 15 inches from northeast Arkansas to western Kentucky and far southern Illinois. Through Thursday morning alone, we could see up to 6 inches for this area.

Weather & Radar meteorologists will be keeping you up to date as this storm progresses throughout the day on Wednesday. Download the free app to have access to all the tools and have your weather alerts switched on.