A third straight day of severe storms is about to become a fourth.
There have been 60 reported tornadoes over the last three days, including 12 reported tornadoes on Thursday — eight of them in Arkansas. In addition, persistent rainfall of more than 8 inches in some areas has caused many rivers to rise from the Southern Plains into the Midwest. Davenport, Iowa, along the Mississippi River, broke a record previously set during the Great Flood of 1993.
The heaviest rain and stormiest weather has shifted south of Chicago into the Ohio Valley and back to Texas, where more storms are possible. The flood alerts cover eight states from Texas to Ohio on Friday morning.
Severe weather is forecast Friday in southern Texas, including Austin, San Antonio and near Corpus Christi. The biggest threat will be damaging winds, large hail and a few tornadoes.
The storm system will move east on Saturday into the Gulf Coast and Southeast with severe storms possible from New Orleans to Atlanta and into North Carolina.
The biggest threat with these storms will again be damaging winds, hail and an isolated tornado.
More rain is forecast from Texas into the Ohio Valley and into parts of the Northeast over the weekend. Some areas in Texas could see almost 4 inches of rain.
