Stormy weather could impact Easter travel plans for millions of Americans across the central U.S. throughout the weekend.
Millions of Americans are expected to head to airports, and others will hit the road to visit with family or take a break from school.
“No matter the destination, travelers are ready to unwind after a long winter,” Josie Nicotra, the director of travel at AAA Western and Central New York, said in a statement. “For many, Easter vacation is a family tradition. This year, many families are traveling with grandparents as multigenerational travel continues to trend upward.”
But, vacations could be marred by dangerous driving conditions and flight delays amid stormy weather.
“Multiple rounds of thunderstorms will rattle vast areas of the United States into Easter Sunday, but some packing large hail, high winds and tornadoes will pose a significant risk to lives and property,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski warned.
Storms were already bringing 60 mph winds and quarter-sized hail in Kansas, according to local forecasters.
From Thursday afternoon to evening, severe thunderstorms may bring hail the size of baseballs to residents in Iowa. By Friday and into Saturday, the severe threat will stretch across 1,000 miles from Texas to Michigan.
“All modes of severe weather will be possible Friday and Saturday in this extensive zone. The threats will range from large hail and flash urban flooding to damaging wind gusts and tornadoes,” Sosnowski said.
The risk of flash flooding will increase with each round of rainfall over multiple days, causing rises on some rivers that avoided flooding earlier this month.
“Towns hit hard by flooding and tornadoes in early April could be impacted yet again by flooding rainfall and severe weather through the holiday weekend. The risk of downpours, flash flooding, hail, tornadoes and damaging wind gusts could disrupt repairs and recovery efforts,” AccuWeather Senior Director of Forecasting Operations Dan DePodwin cautioned.
However, the worst of the rain will remain to the northwest of areas hit the hardest in Kentucky and Missouri.
As many as four to eight inches of rain may fall in communities from central Texas to central Illinois.
On Easter, the most dangerous storms could slam Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois. Those impacts are anticipated in the afternoon hours, with storms reaching their peak in the evening when people may be headed home from egg hunts and dinners.
“The most intense storms later Sunday will pack damaging hail, powerful wind gusts and tornadoes. The severe weather threat is likely to continue past sunset, which will add to the danger for people heading home or sound asleep after a busy weekend full of activities,” Sosnowski noted.
Peter Mullinax, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center, said that the unsettled weather pattern could continue beyond the Easter weekend, according to The New YorkTimes.
“There’s still going to be an ongoing active weather pattern across the eastern two-thirds of the country,” he said.
