Tornado threat ramps up across central US a day after destructive tornadoes in Kansas

CNN

By Meteorologists Chris Dolce, Briana Waxman and CNN’s Hanna Park, Kate Petersen

(CNN) — A week of severe storm threats across the central US started with a bang Monday, with multiple tornadoes demolishing buildings in Kansas, heavy rain stranding vehicles on flooded streets in Wisconsin and baseball-sized hail battering parts of three states.

Tuesday has turned out to be just as dangerous, with multiple tornadoes causing damage across parts of Iowa and Wisconsin, including a destroyed home and significant structural damage to multiple buildings.

Tens of millions of people from the Texas-Mexico border to the Great Lakes are at risk of severe storms Tuesday, including in Chicago; Milwaukee and Des Moines, Iowa where there’s a Level 3 of 5 threat for large to giant hail, damaging wind gusts and tornadoes.

Three tornado watches are in effect for more than 22 million people across the south central Plains and parts of the Upper Midwest.

Dangerous flooding is also a concern, especially where rivers are already running high in water-logged northern Michigan and in Wisconsin, where dams are also at risk of failing.

On the cold side of the storm system, snowy conditions in the high elevations of the Colorado Rocky Mountains contributed to a 75-car pileup on I-70 outside of the Loveland Ski Area, according to the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office.

Tornado damage, injuries reported

In Wisconsin, a confirmed tornado hit near Union Center Tuesday after the National Weather Service issued a rare “particularly dangerous situation” tornado warning.

There were over a dozen reports of tornadoes on Monday in parts of eastern Kansas, northern Iowa, southern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin.

A tornado damaged about 100 structures, including barns, residences and businesses, in Miami County, Kansas, Undersheriff Matthew Kelly said. Around 50 to 60 of the structures were “completely destroyed” or significantly damaged, he said. Much of the damage was centered in the town of Hillsdale, Kelly said. Based on that damage, the twister has been preliminarily rated an EF2 with winds up to 115 mph, according to the weather service.

Despite the destruction, no one is believed to be missing, and only one minor injury was reported. Crews searched impacted properties throughout the night and then again in the daylight, Kelly said.

Multiple buildings were “demolished” after a tornado hit Kansas’ Linn County, Randy Hegwald, the county’s emergency management director, told CNN. A lake community southeast of Mound City “took a direct hit,” but only a few minor injuries have been reported, Hegwald said.

The storm also caused structural damage in nearby Ottawa, according to Franklin County Emergency Management.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly issued a verbal disaster declaration Tuesday “to ensure resources are available for counties as they recover.”

Hail the size of a baseball or larger also pelted parts of southern Minnesota, central Wisconsin and eastern Kansas.

Multiple structures were damaged in the area and power lines were down, though no injuries or deaths had been reported as of Tuesday evening, Jeremy Bonikowske, the Juneau County’s emergency director, told CNN.

More dangerous storms ahead

Wednesday is expected to bring yet another round of strong storms, but wind damage and hail, rather than tornadoes, appear to be the biggest concerns in most areas. Far northern Texas, Oklahoma and southeast Kansas have the highest chance at seeing severe storms that are more impactful, but the risk zone extends as far north as the Upper Mississippi Valley.

And that’s not the end of this daily onslaught.

One more surge of jet stream energy will fire up a final round of potent thunderstorms on Friday, especially from Oklahoma to Iowa. Strong tornadoes and destructive hail and winds are all on the table.

This system could produce one final burst of severe storms on Saturday in the southern Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. The storm-weary central US will then finally get a multi-day breather starting Sunday because of a weather pattern change that will also usher in a temperature drop.

Flooding woes hit the Great Lakes

Multiple rounds of rainfall this week could cause flash flooding and aggravate ongoing river flooding in Michigan and Wisconsin.

The region is water-logged after seeing one of its wettest starts to spring on record. Melting snow has worsened the flooding in northern parts of Michigan and Wisconsin.

Another round of rain that’s expected to arrive Tuesday night has prompted a Level 2 of 4 threat of flash flooding for southeast Wisconsin and southern Michigan, according to the Weather Prediction Center.

Firefighters in Suamico, Wisconsin, just north of Green Bay, rescued three people from a flooded home as water levels continued to rise, a Tuesday morning post from the fire department stated.

In Waupaca County, Wisconsin, concerns about the potential failure of the Big Falls Dam have prompted preventative evacuations in multiple communities downstream from the dam to the city of New London, county Emergency Management Director Zachary Van Asten told CNN.

The National Weather Service also issued a flash flood warning Tuesday morning for areas along the Little Wolf River and other streams and drainages downstream, citing the dam’s “imminent failure.”

The dam has not failed and has been fortified with sandbags and rocks to help prevent water from moving around it, Van Asten said.

Big Falls isn’t the only dam at risk: All the dam reservoirs in the county are full and being actively monitored, according to Van Asten. “Our rivers are all at flood stage level right now, so we have water all over the place,” he said.

In Cheboygan, Michigan, authorities have issued a notice to evacuate low areas along the Cheboygan River due to a levee breach of the Little Black River Watershed, telling residents to travel south of the city, according to the sheriff’s office.

A flash flood warning has been issued for parts of the county, effective until Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service said.

The evacuation notice is “unrelated to current activities” at the Cheboygan County Lock and Dam, the sheriff said, where water levels continued to rise as authorities told residents to prepare for possible evacuations in the area.

Water levels had reached 8.04 inches from the top of the dam as of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, up several inches from the day before. An evacuation order would be triggered if water levels reach an inch below the top, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Major flooding is ongoing or forecast to develop this week at nearly a dozen locations along rivers in Michigan and Wisconsin.

One of those is the Manistee River near Sherman, Michigan, which was above its record flood stage by more than a foot on Tuesday.

The Muskegon River near Evart, Michigan, is forecast to hit major flood stage — 14 feet — by Thursday. Subdivisions along the river upstream from the town would see major flooding at that level and it could trigger evacuations, according to the National Weather Service.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN Meteorologist Dakota Smith contributed to this report.