Severe weather threat, including damaging winds, on Tuesday

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - The threat for severe weather exists across a portion of the Midwest on Tuesday, including eastern Iowa.

The Storm Prediction Center includes the entire KCRG-TV9 viewing area in a slight risk for severe storms on Tuesday. A higher, enhanced risk for severe weather has been placed across the northeast corner of the viewing area. This includes cities like Dubuque, Prairie du Chien, Maquoketa, and Manchester.

Damaging winds are the main threat with storms that develop on Tuesday afternoon. Incidences of especially strong winds are possible in the orange-shaded enhanced risk area in northeast Iowa.

Thunderstorms will likely develop in an extremely warm and humid airmass by mid- to late-afternoon in parts of the midwest. These will tend to form into lines or clusters, providing the risk for damaging winds. By late evening, the threat for most of the area will have passed.

“While there are still uncertainties about the exact evolution of storms on Tuesday, the threat for severe weather appears to have increased for most of the area,” TV9 Meteorologist Corey Thompson said. “We know this comes on a sensitive anniversary of the August 2020 derecho. The best lesson we learned last year was to be prepared for anything when the threat of severe weather exists, and to have a plan of action for when storms threaten.”

Thompson said that knowing where the safest location in your home or workplace, which is on the lowest floor as far away from exterior windows and walls, will keep you safe in a severe thunderstorm. He also said that staying up to date with the latest forecasts and information throughout the day is important to being weather-aware.

Heat and humidity stick around, with lesser chances for thunderstorms on Wednesday and Thursday. After that, cooler and drier air returns to the region.

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