Tornadoes touch down in Midwest with millions at severe weather risk for weekend
Apparent tornadoes touched down in the Midwest on Friday and a weekend flooding risk remains as roller-coaster weather sweeps the country, with some states experiencing summer-like temperatures in the middle of spring.
The Storm Prediction Center (SPC), put 38 million people from North Texas to Michigan at risk for severe weather on Friday. The greatest tornado risk is concentrated in Iowa, Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
A funnel cloud over Lena, Ill. on Friday. JCWIFI
The National Weather Service warned of possible flooding from heavy rainfall and thunderstorms across parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri and Kansas. And in the Ohio Valley and eastern Great Lakes region, as many as 12 million people were warned of severe thunderstorms.
As of Friday evening, there were reports of tornadoes in Lena, and near Rockton, Illinois, and near Rochester, Minnesota.
Meanwhile, the Stephenson County Sheriff's Office in Illinois warned locals to avoid the town of Lena on Friday evening.
"There is no way to get into town due to trees and wires down," the sheriff's office said amid strong winds and storms.
The National Weather Service office of Chicago said a tornado was observed in the area of Roscoe, South Beloit and Rockton, Illinois, all in the northern part of the state.
Ahead of the storms, Gov. Mike Kehoe of Missouri signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency.
Tornados in Roscoe, Ill., left, and Rochester, Minn. on Friday.Lisa Kemper Gibson; Matt and Kaley Peters
In a news release Friday, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services said communities are beginning cleanup efforts from rain this week despite “more severe weather on the way.”
Floodwaters reached record levels in the state Wednesday, leaving drivers stranded on inundated highways in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson on Thursday called the damage and storm “an overwhelming force of nature.” Some neighborhoods received a month’s worth of rain in just one to two hours, and the effects of the storms could linger for days.
Temperatures are expected to remain well above average across much of the eastern and central U.S. through Friday — reaching the 70s and 80s across the Midwest and the 80s to low 90s in the Southwest — before an approaching cold front brings generally below-average temperatures to the region.