Storms Bring Baseball-Sized Hail, 80 MPH Wind Gusts To Central Plains

Around 20 million people across the Central Plains are under the threat of severe weather as dangerous storms blow through the region.

The National Weather Service issued a warning that the storms could dump baseball-sized hail and produce damaging wind with gusts up to 80 mph across Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The storms are also capable of spawning tornadoes.

"By our risk category, a moderate risk level of four out of five is a signal that today is not a typical severe weather day by any stretch," said Bill Bunting of NOAA's Storm Prediction Center. "Local NWS offices have certainly been messaging that. I'm messaging it with you now telling folks that, you know, if you're in threatened areas, really any threat, we have a five-tier scale, but if there's any risk of severe storms in your area, you have to treat it potentially very seriously in your area."

The severe weather threat is expected to continue through the weekend.

"There will be a building dome of heat centered on Texas, initially, a nearly stationary storm over the eastern U.S., and a strong jet stream that extends from northwest to southeast over the region," AccuWeather Senior Long-Range Meteorologist Joe Lundberg said.

"There will be a building dome of heat centered on Texas, initially, a nearly stationary storm over the eastern U.S., and a strong jet stream that extends from northwest to southeast over the region," Lundberg added.