Memphis among cities in bull’s-eye for risk of strong tornadoes in South overnight

Multiple rounds of severe weather are expected across the South and lower Mississippi Valley starting on Wednesday and will bring the risk of strong tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds.

“The threat is really going to be ramping up later on this afternoon into this evening,” FOX Weather meteorologist Jason Frazer said. “Part of the reason why is because we’re going to get that daytime heating that is really going to slowly start bubbling up.”

The first area where severe weather could break out Wednesday afternoon will be across parts of North and East Texas and southeastern Oklahoma.

A broken line of severe thunderstorms will likely form along the Interstate 35 corridor between Oklahoma City and Dallas by the time we head into the evening commute.

It’s still unclear how many storms will form, but the FOX Forecast Center said any storms that do form will likely be supercell thunderstorms capable of producing large hail, damaging wind gusts and tornadoes.

The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is included in this dangerous threat.

he threat of severe weather will then extend off to the east by Wednesday evening, pushing the threat of severe weather into parts of Arkansas, northern Mississippi and West Tennessee, including the Memphis metro.

An area of unstable air is expected to aid in the development of supercells, which could produce strong (EF-2 or higher) tornadoes from Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

“Whenever you enter into a forecast where we’re talking about the potential of large tornadoes after dark, it’s very important to consider what your plans are going to be before you go to bed,” FOX Weather meteorologist Britta Merwin said.

As the sun rises on Thursday, storms will be rumbling across parts of the mid-South and Ohio Valley from Tennessee to Ohio.

The FOX Forecast Center said that initially, the morning storms would be capable of producing damaging wind gusts, but the storms will gradually weaken with time as instability in the atmosphere decreases.

However, daytime heating will provide the necessary ingredients in the atmosphere to allow for the formation of more storms in parts of Indiana and Kentucky and eventually into parts of Ohio.

Damaging wind gusts will be the primary threat with this line of storms as they quickly move east before winding down on Friday morning.

Storms will also be sweeping through the South on Thursday morning across parts of the Gulf Coast states.

Those storms could also become severe, but the risk remains lower.

But as the day continues, daytime heating will allow more supercell thunderstorms to develop across parts of eastern Mississippi and western Alabama.

Strong (EF-2 or higher) tornadoes will also be possible in that region, with the severe weather threat winding down on Friday morning.