Tornadoes, Huge Hail Batter Midwest, Plains States; More to Come
On Sunday, at least 25 tornadoes pummeled states across the Midwest and Great Plains. At least two people died in the storms. Even more harsh weather, and not just tornadoes, is set to hit much of the rest of the country on Monday.
Five states—Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas—have been placed on "tornado watch" by the National Weather Service. Oklahoma was hit particularly hard on Sunday; 79-year-old Glen Irish and 76-year-old Billy Hutchinson, both from Shawnee, were killed as twisters leveled mobile home parks across the central part of the state.
One particular tornado, the one in Shawnee (video above), may have reached the level of F4, the second-highest level on the Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity, with wind speeds reaching 207-260 miles per hour.
The National Weather Service says that up to 60 million people are at risk of the storms on Monday. Outside of the five states on tornado watch, cities including Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit and Indianapolis should also expect some severe weather.
At Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, a bolt of lightning during a storm on Sunday completely stripped all the bark off a tree. It's a fascinating sight, one that reminds you just how powerful nature really is. If, of course, all the tornadoes didn't do that already.