A severe storm system was expected to bring strong winds and large hail, possibly the size of baseballs, to parts of the Midwest through Monday night, a day after tornadoes downed power lines and trees and damaged buildings across the Great Plains.
Forecasters warned of potential for “all severe hazards,” including tornadoes, especially in the central and southern Plains. The National Weather Service in Wichita, Kan., warned that severe thunderstorms were likely on Monday afternoon and evening, primarily along and east of Interstate 135.
Midwest Energy Inc., an energy provider in Kansas, said early Monday that crews were working to restore power after a tornado caused damaged in the city of Plevna.
On Sunday, more than 20 tornadoes were reported across Colorado, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska, according to the National Weather Service.
In Colorado, multiple tornadoes were reported outside Denver. A tornado touched down at least three times near Bennett, a town of about 2,800 people east of Denver, damaging 17 buildings, including six homes, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said.
Tornadoes in Elbert County, Colo., damaged 19 homes, said Kara Gerczynski, the public information officer for Elizabeth Fire Rescue. Videos posted on social media showed funnel clouds tearing through neighborhoods, destroying homes and leaving behind debris.
More than 200 miles east of Denver, in Grinnell, Kan., a tornado tore the roof off a church, leveled homes and caused several vehicles to flip on Sunday night, according to NWKS Radio. Downed power lines in the area caused lane closures on a portion of Interstate 70, according to Lisa Mussman of the Kansas Department of Transportation. Further south, the storm also downed power lines and trees in Kiowa County, Kan., the sheriff’s office said.
A powerful tornado also tore through the rural city of Gordon, Tex., forcing schools to close on Monday and leaving a path of destruction. Four people were taken to a hospital, the authorities in Palo Pinto County said. “The damage is pretty widespread across the community, with trees and power lines down everywhere,” the county’s emergency services said on social media. In Nebraska, a tornado took down power lines in the village of Stratton, according to the Hitchcock County Sheriff’s Office.
The National Weather Service advised those in areas with tornado warnings to move to a place of safety, ideally in a basement or interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building.
The outbreak of severe weather comes just days after tornadoes killed at least 25 people in Missouri and Kentucky alone.
The severe weather is hitting at a time when the Weather Service is facing staffing shortages after the Trump administration ordered cuts. Nearly 600 people have departed through layoffs and retirements.
A forecasting office in Jackson, Ky., which was directly in the line of Friday night’s tornadoes, is one of four no longer with enough staff to operate at all times.
The forecasting office would have been without an overnight forecaster if not for a last-minute scramble, said Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the union that represents Weather Service employees. The office made arrangements to stay open and was fully staffed, issuing 11 tornado warnings.
The three other forecasting offices are in Sacramento; Hanford, Calif.; and Goodland, Kan. Four more, Mr. Fahy said, are days away from losing their overnight staffing: in Cheyenne, Wyo.; Marquette, Mich.; Pendleton, Ore.; and Fairbanks, Alaska.
The risk of tornadoes in the region will remain in place on Monday. Rain is expected, too, with showers and thunderstorms likely to be focused over the central Plains and into Missouri and Arkansas.
By Tuesday, the storm system is forecast to shift eastward, bringing the threat of severe weather to other parts of the Midwest, Tennessee Valley and Ohio Valley.
“The biggest threat is going to be the wind and hail again, but the flash flood threat will also be there,” said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center. “It definitely is a May springtime pattern in the United States.”
Judson Jones, Yan Zhuang, Nazaneen Ghaffar and Jenny Gross contributed reporting.
Amy Graff is a Times reporter covering weather, wildfires and earthquakes.
Sara Ruberg covers breaking news and is a member of the 2024-25 class of Times Fellows, a program for journalists early in their careers.
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