Plains face heavy, locally damaging storms through the early week

Warmth that built up over the Plains this past week will clash with an emerging storm from the Rockies, causing an eruption of locally severe thunderstorms across the Plains through the weekend, AccuWeather meteorologists say.

A strong jet stream will provide thunderstorms with added energy, raising the risk of damaging wind gusts at ground level. A limiting factor for widespread severe thunderstorms may be the amount of moisture available. For now, humidity levels have only bounced back to moderate levels, unlike during mid- to late spring when conditions tend to become very humid during a severe weather setup.

The risk of severe weather is forecast to occur across portions of Minnesota and Iowa, as well as the Dakotas and Nebraska, on Sunday.

In addition to damaging winds and hail, th