Unprecedented severe weather threat Wednesday night in the Northern Plains

This storm will move too far north to have any significant impact on our weather

Severe weather threat for Wednesday, 12/15/2021

ROANOKE, Va. – Less than a week after the deadly tornadoes that moved through parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, another unusually high severe weather threat is materializing in states like Iowa and Minnesota.

The National Weather Service says the state of Minnesota has never seen a tornado or a tornado warning in the month of December.

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Record warmth, along with intense wind near and above the surface is resulting in a Level 4 out of 5 threat for severe weather in areas that still have snow on the ground.

Storm Prediction Center outlook for Wednesday, 12/15/2021

An area of low pressure ejects and strengthens from the Rockies, producing wind alerts from Texas to the Great Lakes (without the presence of storms around).

Wind alerts in effect for Wednesday, 12/15/2021

It will team up with record warmth to produce a line of fast-moving storms. A few storms could tap into the intense wind just above the surface and move 80-90 miles-per-hour.

A line of intense storms will move quickly through parts of Iowa and Minnesota Wednesday night

Some of these storms will rotate and produce tornadoes. One of the unfortunate things with this storm is that it is happening during the week of earliest sunset for many.

For us, the storm will be too far north to have any direct impact on our weather. The wind field around it will be such that we’ll feel a breeze at times Thursday. That breeze will warm many of us into the 60s.

Unseasonably warm weather returns Thursday through Saturday in our corner of the Commonwealth

Any chance of a shower is minimal and mainly confined to areas north of US 460 at night. We do not expect any severe weather here.


About the Author

Meteorologist Chris Michaels is an American Meteorological Society (AMS) Certified Broadcaster, forecasting weather conditions in southwest Virginia on WSLS 10 News from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays on Virginia Today.

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