Millions prepare for severe storms in the Midwest and South

Jaclyn Diaz | May 19, 2025

Oklahoma City, Tulsa and other areas in Oklahoma and Kansas are at the highest risk of severe storms expected to hit Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Another round of dangerous weather is expected to hit parts of the Midwest Monday and areas in the Southeast on Tuesday, as recovery efforts continue following a deadly bout of severe weather that affected multiple states over the weekend, resulting in at least 27 fatalities.

“A maturing central U.S. storm system is expected to produce another round of dangerous severe weather and instances of flash flooding today, with an emphasis on eastern Oklahoma into the Ozarks,” the National Weather Service said. “From a broader perspective, an expansive area of moderate to locally heavy rain is forecast to extend from the northern Plains to North Texas …”

Potentially millions of people in central and eastern Oklahoma and far northwest Arkansas are at risk from numerous severe thunderstorms expected Monday, according to the National Weather Service. The agency has classified the threat level of these storms as a 4 out of 5 risk.

These storms are likely to rapidly intensify in scale and become severe, producing strong and damaging wind gusts, large hail and powerful tornadoes. Oklahoma City, Tulsa and other areas in Oklahoma and Kansas are expected to be at the highest risk by mid-afternoon on Monday, according to the forecast from the Storm Prediction Center.

This comes on the heels of powerful storms and tornadoes that swept through the South and Midwest overnight last Friday. In hard-hit Kentucky, the National Weather Service estimates a tornado with winds reaching approximately 150 miles per hour winds destroyed several buildings. At least 19 people have died with the death toll rising by one after the confirmation of a woman’s death, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced. Ten people remain hospitalized due to storm-related injuries from the storm, Beshear said.

Redeemer Lutheran Church is damaged, Sunday, May 18, 2025, along Highway 27 in Somerset, Ky., after a severe storm passed through the area. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Carolyn Kaster/AP | AP)

Residents are currently working to clear debris from collapsed buildings and homes, and trying to patch up damage where they can, while bracing for the possibility of another storm.

As the severe weather moves out of Oklahoma and Kansas overnight on Monday, it is expected to shift further east into the Mississippi Valley, Ohio and Tennessee valleys and into Kentucky by Tuesday.

Western Kentucky and Tennessee as well as northern Mississippi and Alabama, face the greatest threats for severe thunderstorms with heavy rainfall, the National Weather Service said.