Forecasters warn more tornadoes may be on the way

Powerful, damaging winds also expected over central regions following storms that killed at least 88 people

More tornadoes are possible this week across a central region of the United States, forecasters said on Tuesday.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma reported a slight risk of severe thunderstorms over Iowa and southern Minnesota.

The band of strong storms is expected to develop over the mid-Missouri Valley on Wednesday afternoon, an area which encompasses Kansas City, Missouri, Omaha, Nebraska, and Sioux City, Iowa, and is no stranger to tornadoes.

As evening falls, the storm system will then move quickly towards the upper Mississippi Valley, an area which covers the south-eastern corner of Minnesota, just below Minneapolis, and also parts of Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois.

“Damaging wind gusts and a couple of tornadoes will be possible,” the forecasters noted. Winds could reach up to 80 mph, according to reports.

‘Damaging wind gusts and a couple of tornadoes will be possible,’ said national forecasters on Tuesday (NWS)

The storm path tracked west of where the devastating tornado outbreak occurred on Friday night. However the predictions of yet more extreme weather will not be welcome news for communities which face ongoing recovery efforts and a massive clean-up operation.

The tornado outbreak this past weekend across six states killed at least 88 people, 74 in Kentucky alone and at least 13 children. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said the death toll will “undoubtedly” rise.

Multiple tornadoes tore a path of devastation from Arkansas, where a nursing home was destroyed, to Illinois, where an Amazon distribution centre was heavily damaged.

For a second week, record-high temperatures were also expected in central US states with some areas seeing temperatures up to 40 degrees above normal for this time of year.

While some more severe and extreme weather events can be directly linked to the climate crisis, the complexity of tornadoes makes it more difficult. However it does appear that unusually warm, spring-like weather in December factored into the tornado outbreak.

Recent analysis found that while all seasons are impacted by climate change, winter is warming the fastest across much of the US, intensifying conditions in the atmosphere which can spawn such tornadoes.