Violent weather is expected to spread across the Ohio Valley Sunday, the latest system to raise concern in the region after severe thunderstorms swept through the Midwest and South this month.
The National Weather Service said “scattered to numerous” severe storms are forecast from the middle South to the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes. The Ohio and Tennessee valleys will have the largest threat Sunday, according to the weather service.
“There is a notable risk for tornadoes across the Ohio Valley through Sunday night,” said AccuWeather Meteorologist Matt Benz.
The weather service said several dangerous weather conditions are possible in the region, which is under an enhanced risk of thunderstorms. The agency said destructive hail and scattered damaging winds are the primary threats but a few tornadoes are possible.
Numerous tornado warnings and watches were issued Sunday by the weather service in parts of Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. A second round of severe storms is also slated to “fire across Southern Indiana and Western Kentucky” Sunday night before moving southeast, the weather service said.
By Sunday night, nearly 749,000 customers across parts of the Midwest and South were without power due to severe weather conditions, according to poweroutage.us
Meanwhile, temperatures are forecast to climb for the rest of the week across the south-central United States, according to AccuWeather.
The heat wave is entering its third week as soaring temperatures impacted the region. Excessive heat warnings and heat advisories were issued for most of Texas.
“The heat that has gripped Texas for days on end will extend into (this) week as an intense core of high pressure high up in the atmosphere expands in coverage from northern Mexico into more of eastern Texas,” said AccuWeather Meteorologist La Troy Thornton.
Damages reported in south-central Indiana
At least one tornado was confirmed to have touched down in Indiana.
WTHR.com reported the tornado had blown through New Whiteland, a town about 19 miles south of Indianapolis, and caused structural collapses.
Bargersville Deputy Fire Chief Michael Pruitt confirmed multiple structures were damaged near White River Township in Johnson County, Indiana.
Pruitt said emergency crews were conducting searchers but there were no immediate reports of injuries. Multiple roads were closed in the area of White River Township affected by the tornado.
Several neighborhoods and homes were damaged or destroyed in parts of northern Johnson County and the damage covers a large area, said Johnson County Sheriff Duane E. Burgess.
Downed power lines, trees, and debris also posed a hazard in the area. Officials said power lines were down within a 3-mile area where the tornado hit and at one point, more than 12,000 customers were impacted by outages.
By 8 p.m., Duke Energy reported more than 3,700 customers were without power in Johnson County.
“We are asking that if you do not live in the area please stay out of the area because you are hindering the work of emergency workers,” Burgess said.
Johnson County is about 29 miles south of Indianapolis.
In central Indiana, the weather service reported baseball-sized hail due to the current storm activity in the area.
South-central U.S. states sees another week of high temperatures
AccuWeather forecasters said daily high records could be reached in parts of the south-central United States throughout the week. Temperatures are expected to increase between five to 15 degrees above historical averages.
The weather service issued heat advisories across parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee on Sunday. Excessive heat warnings were also issued for west-central, southern, and eastern Texas.
The blistering weather is due to a push of “persistent hot air,” according to AccuWeather. And the heat dome is expected to hover over the Central United States for the majority of the week with AccuWeather forecasters expecting a build-up in portions of the Plains, Mississippi Valley, and Southeast.
Contributing: Louisville Courier Journal; Indianapolis Star