Severe thunderstorms will precede rapid cooling in the northern United States

The same storm that unleashed flash flooding and the first snowfall of the season in parts of the West last weekend will spread northeast across the central United States by midweek. There is a risk of locally severe thunderstorms over parts of the Great Plains into Monday night and possible gusty thunderstorms in parts of the Midwest on Tuesday, AccuWeather meteorologists say.

The weather pattern triggered a few thunderstorms with hail and strong wind gusts in parts of New Mexico and Colorado last weekend.

The same storm will produce gusty and locally severe thunderstorms from portions of northwest Texas into western and central Nebraska through Monday night.

While moisture in the region will be limited in April and May and will be far from peak severe weather conditions, some of the strongest storms can still produce strong wind gusts, hail, brief downpours and perhaps a few short-lived tornadoes.

As the storm itself continues to weaken on Tuesday and Wednesday, moving north, the chance of severe weather will decrease, but brief gusty thunderstorms may still occur.

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The thunderstorm zone extends from Missouri and Illinois north into Minnesota and Wisconsin on Tuesday afternoon and evening.

On Wednesday, the potential for some strong thunderstorms will move east across the Great Lakes region.

As winds intensify over the next few days, dry ground and sparks from lightning, power equipment or downed utility lines could spark a fast-spreading bushfire.

The sporadic showers and thunderstorms will occur along and ahead of a strong cooling front that marks and abruptly ends the summer warmth that has prevailed over the north-central states for many days.

Monday through Wednesday, temperatures will drop by 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Highs in the 70s and 80s will be replaced by highs in the 40s, 50s and 60s from Dakota to Michigan, Illinois and Indiana.

Cooler air will settle further south over the plains. However, it will likely take until the end of the week for record-breaking highs in the 80s and 90s in Kansas, Oklahoma and North Texas to be replaced by highs in the 60s and 70s.

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