Thousands lose power as storms hit Upper Midwest and Central Plains

The threat of severe storms will continue into the early morning hours across parts of the Central Plains and eastern Great Lakes, though the tornado threat significantly decreases around sunset.

Large hail and damaging winds will continue to be the main threats, so it may be a good idea to sleep on the lowest floor of your home, if possible, especially if you have trees nearby.

More power outages are possible overnight as well, so charge all of your devices before you go to bed in case you lose power.

Heavy rain is also possible overnight in the mid-Mississippi Valley, so now is the time to get your sump pump set up and ready if your basement floods frequently.

A new tornado watch has been issued for central Illinois by the Storm Prediction Center. The watch warns of a couple tornadoes, scattered damaging winds with isolated significant gusts to 75 mph possible and isolated large hail events to 1 inch in diameter. The watch lasts until 11 pm CDT and includes Peoria, Illinois.

Over 400 thousand customers are now without power in the eastern Great Lakes and upper Midwest as storms batter the region. Here’s the state-by-state breakdown:

• Illinois: 284k
• Michigan: 100k
• Wisconsin: 60k
• Indiana: 24k
• Kansas: 12k
• Iowa: 11k
• Minnesota: 10k

The severe weather threat for the upper Midwest and western Great Lakes returns Thursday and covers many of the same cities for a second day in a row, including Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin.

Strong tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail are all possible, and the storms are likely to come in two windows for the main threat area from northeastern Missouri and southeastern Iowa through northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin into central Michigan. 

The first window is in the midday to early afternoon in a line of storms. Don’t let those storms deceive you into thinking the threat is over, because the second window is the more concerning of the two in the afternoon to evening hours.

The strong storms whipping through the Windy City are leaving a trail of damage high into the air. Check out these blown-out windows in Chicago’s Loop area:

Meanwhile, take a look at this incredible time-lapse of the storms rolling through Chicago

June is the third most active month for tornadoes in the United States, but the threat shifts slightly northwards compared to the top months of May and April, focusing on parts of Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and even parts of South Dakota.

This shift is the result of the jet stream shifting northwards with the warming weather, meaning that the area with ample wind shear to support tornadoes is farther northward as well.

(MORE: Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Increasing Temps: The Main June Weather Changes)

First pitch at Rate Field between the Braves and White Sox is scheduled for 7:40pm ET (6:40pm CT) and weather will definitely have an impact.

A matchup between to potential All Star pitchers could be marred by the weather. Chris Sale of the Braves, who is 8-4 with a 2.23 ERA is set to battle Davis Martin of the White Sox, who is 8-2 with a 2.61 ERA.

Update: The Braves-White Sox game did start on time, with no delay.

A confirmed tornado with a Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) tag in the warning from the National Weather Service is moving from northern Missouri into southern Iowa.

A tornado was confirmed from the same storm earlier in the evening in northern Missouri.

The PDS tag is used to indicate that a storm has a higher risk associated with an unusually high threat of damage and loss of life exists for a particular storm.

(MORE: All tornado warnings should be taken seriously, but they aren't all the same. Here are the different types)

Strong storms moving through the upper Midwest have knocked out power for over 300 thousand customers in Illinois, nearly 200 thousand of whom are in Cook County, which includes Chicago.

See: ComEd power outage map

The highest threat for severe weather in the area should end around 7 pm CDT as the first wave of storms passes through, but a second round of severe storms from approximately 7 pm to 11 pm will delay clean-up and restoration efforts, even though it is likely to be less intense than the first round of storms.

Strong winds are already being felt in the Windy City. Construction materials have been seen blowing across the Chicago Loop.

There are currently two tornado watches in effect for parts of the Central Plains and mid-Mississippi Valley, covering over 2 million people in the region. 

• Northeastern Kansas, northwestern Missouri, southwestern Iowa (Until 9 pm CDT): A few tornadoes likely with a couple intense tornadoes possible, scattered damaging winds and isolated significant gusts to 75 mph likely, scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 3 inches in diameter likely
• Northeastern Missouri, southeastern Iowa, northwestern Illinois (Until 11 pm CDT): A few tornadoes and a couple intense tornadoes possible, scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 2 inches in diameter likely, scattered damaging winds likely with isolated significant gusts to 75 mph possible

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