On Sunday, a slow-moving storm system scattered huge hail across multiple states, complicating preparations for Memorial Day weekend from the Plains to the Southeast and mid-Atlantic.
On Sunday night, Texas was hit by hail bigger than grapefruits. The 5.5-inch and 6-inch huge hailstones fell in Afton, according to Colt Forney of Atmospheric Chaos. He compares one to a baseball and another to a baseball hat in the photos.
The threat on Sunday follows severe thunderstorms and flooding that hit sections of the same regions on Saturday, causing storms to blast through communities in Florida, structures to sustain damage in Oklahoma, and water rescues in Missouri.
Parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri have received multiple Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and Flash Flood Warnings, and storms have already begun to move across portions of the Central Plains on Sunday.
From the Plains to the Southeast, an estimated 59 million people were at risk of experiencing severe weather on Sunday.
On its 5-point severe thunderstorm risk scale, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has categorized over 5.6 million people in two regions of the United States as being at Level 3 risk.
The first region of worry was in the southern Plains, which includes Lubbock and Abilene in Texas and Oklahoma City and Norman in Oklahoma.
The Mississippi Valley was covered by the second region of concern.
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Pine Bluff, Arkansas; Memphis, Tennessee; and Tupelo, Mississippi, are among the cities at peril.
Cities like Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in Texas were among the more than 16 million people classified as being in a Level 2 out of 5 threat.
Another worry is flooding, for which three states have already issued multiple Flash Flood Warnings.
The Weather Prediction Center (WPC) of NOAA designated areas in Oklahoma and Arkansas with a greater threat level as Level 3 out of 4.
From the Plains to the Southeast, parts of nine other states are at risk of a Level 2 out of 4 hazard.
