(NEW YORK) — More than 50 million Americans are on alert for severe weather this Easter weekend, as several states in the Heartland have already been slammed with tornadoes, hail and damaging winds.
On Thursday, 15 tornadoes, 86-mph wind gusts and softball and baseball-sized hail were reported across Nebraska and Iowa.
Damage to farm buildings, downed trees and power lines have also been reported across Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.
The severe weather will persist this weekend as this storm system will begin to stall across the Central and Eastern parts of the country.
On Friday, areas stretching from central Texas up to southern Wisconsin and western Indiana will be hit with large hail, damaging winds, along with threats of possible tornadoes, especially in parts of Oklahoma and Texas.
The main window for severe weather will begin on Friday afternoon and continue until Saturday morning local time.
The wet and windy conditions will shift southwest on Saturday, hitting areas of central Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri.
The National Weather Service said flash flooding is likely in these areas on Saturday.
On Easter Sunday, the weather will finally break out of its stall across the Central U.S. and move further east, hovering over parts of northwestern Texas, northwestern Louisiana, most of Arkansas and south-central Missouri.
The slow-moving nature of this storm system will also bring an increasing flash flood threat in the coming days as rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms sweep across many of the same areas of the South and Midwest through the holiday weekend.
Flood watches have been posted across portions of six states, from north Texas to southern Illinois. A widespread 2 to 4 inches of rain is expected through Sunday with locally up to 6 inches where the heaviest rain falls.
Thankfully, the brunt of the heavy rain will fall just west of the areas that were recently hit with extreme rainfall and major flooding. However, much of this rain will eventually still drain down across the lower Mississippi River Valley, keeping the Mississippi and other nearby rivers in the region elevated for at least the next several days.
This system also brings heavy snow to the higher elevations of northern Arizona and New Mexico, extending up across the central Rocky Mountains through Friday evening. Winter storm warnings have been posted for portions of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado through Saturday afternoon. These areas could see 6 to 12 inches of snowfall with locally up to 20 inches at the highest elevations.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
- More than 30 million on alert for severe weather over Easter weekend - April 19, 2025
- 3 dead after plane crashes into Nebraska river - April 19, 2025
- Grad student shot at FSU recounts harrowing moment gunman reloaded as she played dead - April 18, 2025
