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The good news is that large parts of the populace might soon have a distraction from the coronavirus pandemic. The bad news is that AccuWeather is warning the middle of the country of violent weather beginning Thursday, while also predicting a busy hurricane season along the Atlantic coast come June.
“While the traditional severe weather elements, such as hail, damaging winds, vivid lightning and flash flooding are likely with the upcoming event, the setup may also produce tornadoes,” AccuWeather Senior Storm Warning Meteorologist Eddie Walker warned Thursday.
The incoming storms could affect up to 30 million people beginning with parts of Kansas and Missouri. Rough weather is expected to continue into the weekend, where storms could intensify at the starts of the weekend through large portions of the midwest, mountains and parts of the plain states.
“The main severe weather threat will arise as a storm system, which will unleash snow in the Rockies,” AccuWeather reported.
The Mississippi Valley could see tornadoes Friday night and into Saturday.
On Tuesday, the commercial weather service reported a “large and destructive” tornado had ripped through the northern parts of Alabama and Mississippi, leaving destruction in its wake.
East Coasters should also prepare for rough weather once hurricane season begins in June.
AccuWeather released its 2020 forecast Wednesday and it predicts 14 to 18 tropical storms between June 1 and Nov. 30. A study headed by hurricane expert Dan Kottlowksi calls for seven to nine of those storms to reach hurricanes strength, with up to four of those becoming “major hurricanes.”
“It’s going to be an above-normal season,” Kottlowski said.
Ordinarily, the Atlantic Basin sees about a dozen storms during hurricane season. On average, half of those become hurricanes, three of which meteorologists consider “major.”
Last year’s hurricane season was also busy, thanks to 18 storms that reportedly accounted for $11 billion in damage.
Storm-watchers like Kottlowski are monitoring water temperatures in the Caribbean, which are reportedly running warm. That could be indicative of how early the storm season comes. Between two and four storms are expected to make landfall in the U.S.
“These could be direct hits or a storm scraping the coast but still causing impacts,” Kottlowski said.