Tornadoes threaten central US for second day after multiple twisters formed

Editor's Note: This page is a summary of severe weather news for Monday, May 20. For the latest news on weather, see our file for Tuesday, May. 21

Severe weather that was ramping up Monday was expected to extend into the week, bringing storms capable of producing powerful winds, hail and tornadoes across the Plains and Midwest regions.

The latest system began pummeling the central Plains on Sunday, damaging houses, knocking out power and leaving at least four people injured in Oklahoma. On Monday, the storms were eying a large area from Colorado to Illinois as they headed east and gained momentum.

Meteorologists, meanwhile, forecast that a new storm system will emerge from the Rockies before moving over the central Plains in the evening, bringing a renewed threat of flooding, hail and winds to the region, according to AccuWeather. Multiple rounds of supercells, the most dangerous and violent thunderstorm type, are possible throughout northeast Colorado, southwest Nebraska as well as Iowa and Illinois, the weather service said.

As the storms track eastward in the coming days, they will extend over a large chunk of the Midwest and lower Plains, eventually making their way to the Ohio Valley and up through northern Pennsylvania and western New York, the weather service said. They could also bring more misery to Texas, where massive recovery efforts were ongoing after storms ravaged the Houston area Thursday, killing at least seven people and causing widespread power outages amid dangerously high temperatures.

This week's storms are the latest to develop in what so far has been a very active year for tornadoes. As of Sunday, there have been more than 833 preliminary reports of twisters across the country, according to the Weather Prediction Center. The historical average through that time is 626.

More: Tourists flock to Tornado Alley, paying big bucks for the chance to see dangerous storms

Tuesday forecast: Midwest faces increased risk of severe weather

Potent thunderstorms on Tuesday are expected to roll through a vast swath of the country, from the southern Plains to the upper Great Lakes – an area encompassing more than 40 million people.

The highest concentration of severe storms in the forecast stretches from eastern Kansas to southwest Wisconsin, the weather service's Storm Prediction Center said, adding: "All forms of severe weather will be possible, including tornadoes (a few of which could be strong), significant severe wind gusts, and large hail."

Among the cities at risk of dangerous storm conditions are Kansas City, Missouri; Madison, Wisconsin; Des Moines, Iowa; Chicago and Omaha, Nebraska, the weather service said. Meteorologists anticipate the storms will weaken by the time they hit the Ohio Valley and parts of the Northeast on Wednesday.

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Sweeping damage in central Plains region

On Sunday night, storms battered the central Plains, stirring up tornadoes in Colorado, Kansas and Missouri. Hail 3 inches long was recorded in Ellis, Kansas. And winds reaching 80-100 mph blew the roofs off houses, uprooted trees and snapped power poles throughout the region, reports show.

In western and central Oklahoma, baseball-size hail came crashing down while multiple tornadoes formed across the state, injuring at least four people.

In Blaine County, northwest of Oklahoma City, a nursing home was damaged and two people were injured, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. In Custer County, west of Blaine, 10 to 15 homes were damaged and two people were injured. Search and rescue efforts were ongoing early Monday morning.

In Kansas, over 37,000 power outages were reported while more than 13,000 utility customers in Oklahoma had no power, according to a USA TODAY outage tracker.

Power restoration efforts continue as heat wave hits Texas

Crews continued to restore power for thousands of homes and businesses in southeastern Texas that were left without power for several days following deadly storms last week. Residents are now facing high temperatures and stifling humidity, which prompted warnings from weather officials.

The afternoon heat index, commonly referred to as the "feels like" temperature, is forecast near or in the triple digits Monday through Friday, according to the weather service in Houston.

By Monday night, CenterPoint Energy said it had restored power to about 210,000 customers over the past 24 hours and more than 770,000 — about 85% — had been restored in total. The utility company added that it was on track to "substantially" complete restorations by Wednesday evening.

"CenterPoint expects approximately 90% of customer outages to be restored by Tuesday evening," the company said in an update Monday night. "The company remains on track to be substantially complete with restoring the remaining 150,000 customers without power by Wednesday evening, even with the most difficult outages left to restore."

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Last week, storms pummeled the state and other parts of the Gulf Coast, causing widespread damage and killing at least seven people in the Houston area. At the peak of the storm, over 920,000 utility customers were without energy service, Houston Mayor John Whitmire said at a news conference Sunday.

Dozens of schools were closed on Monday after some were damaged and others had no power. Whitmire added that municipal courts would be limited in their operations and urged residents to "minimize" their travel.

"We still have severe challenges with our street lights, our traffic lights," he said, adding that an exclusion zone has been established and will close off a section of downtown Houston to the public. "There's still dangers downtown due to flying glass."

National weather radar

Contributing: Ryan Sharp, The Oklahoman

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Severe weather, tornadoes in forecast for Plains, Midwest