Several cities in the American Midwest and Plains regions face the threat of severe thunderstorms this week, with the possibility of more deadly tornadoes, large hail and damaging gusts of wind.
Monday's warning from the National Weather Service came just days after four people were killed and nearly a million homes and businesses were left without power by storms that lashed Houston and surrounding areas.
Major population centers that could be struck this week include Kansas City, Missouri, Madison, Wisconsin and Des Moines, Iowa, the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center said.
The forecast calls for an "enhanced risk" in portions of northeastern Colorado, central and southwestern Nebraska and northwestern Kansas on Monday.
Tuesday is expected to expand the area from the lower Missouri Valley to central Wisconsin, with the highest concentration of severe weather expected from eastern Kansas to southeast Wisconsin, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
The forecast followed more than a dozen reports of tornadoes late Sunday in parts of Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma, as well as wind gusts that reached up to 100 mph in Salina, Kansas, according to the Weather Channel.
Chicago and Milwaukee could see scattered storms with high winds and large hail Monday evening, the Weather Channel said.
The Plains and Midwest have been battered by tornadoes this spring with at least five peopled killed by twisters in Oklahoma in recent weeks.
