Severe weather outbreak with potentially "intense tornadoes" hits US plains states

Severe thunderstorms with hazards including powerful tornadoes, giant hail, along with damaging straight-line winds and flooding rains are erupting across the Plains, continuing into May 25 to 26 night, the National Weather Service warns.

The storms, which the NWS says may produce multiple tornadoes, come amid an especially active tornado season, according to Axios.

Areas at risk of seeing some of the greatest impacts include a stretch of Kansas into Oklahoma and north Texas.

Cities most at risk include Wichita, Oklahoma City and Abilene, Texas. Overnight, severe weather may shift east, affecting Dallas-Ft. Worth, Tulsa and parts of Missouri and Arkansas.

The thunderstorms are forming in an extremely volatile environment with all of the ingredients needed for spawning powerful tornadoes present, from winds blowing at different speeds and directions with height to high humidity and extremely unstable air.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. issued a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" tornado watch for much of the state, along with parts of Kansas, through 11pm CT.

"The risk for strong, long-track tornadoes will exist, in addition to giant hail, possibly up to 5 inches in diameter," the watch states. "Damaging thunderstorm wind gusts in excess of 75 mph can also be expected."

This tornado season has been unusually active, with 924 reported tornadoes through Friday, compared to the 733 in a typical season.

Tornado counts so far this year may include more than one sighting of the same tornado, making for a somewhat inflated count, however.

Even with that factor, the season is running above average and showing no signs of slowing in the near-term.

Between the lines: Climate change affects the conditions in which thunderstorms form and may be leading to larger outbreaks, though fewer of them by adding to the instability of the atmosphere while simultaneously cutting back on wind shear.

However, this remains a contested area of active research.

While the storms are unwelcome by residents, they are offering an opportunity for scientists to learn more about how tornadoes form, intensify and dissipate.

Researchers are roaming the Plains to deploy specialized instruments and scan storms using high-resolution, truck-mounted Doppler radar.

Scientists hope the research can save lives through improved tornado warning lead times.

Storms may continue moving eastward as a more organized line, bringing strong winds and heavy rain perhaps as far east as Kentucky by Sunday morning.

More severe thunderstorms are forecast Sunday and into Memorial Day in the Central states and eventually the East Coast.