Important Takeaways:

• A significant outbreak of severe weather, including the risk of some nocturnal tornadoes will unfold by Tuesday and continue on Wednesday which will put lives and property at risk in the central and eastern U.S.
• As an early March storm strengthens from Monday night to Wednesday night, severe thunderstorms will extend across nearly two dozen states, and associated impacts may affect 170 million people from the southern Plains to the Midwest and East, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
• The main threat from severe weather will be powerful wind gusts that can knock over trees and cut the power in some communities from Texas and Oklahoma to portions of Florida, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. There is also a risk of a dozen or two tornadoes spinning up in the strongest storms, and part of that threat will exist during the nighttime hours in the Central states.
• Wind energy from the storm will first be felt over portions of the southern Rockies and Plains beginning at the end of the weekend. Gusts frequenting 50-70 mph in the mainly clear, dry air, combined with the dry winter brush, will significantly boost the risk of wildfires through Tuesday.
• As a trailing cold front associated with the storm begins to encounter moisture from the Gulf late Monday night, thunderstorms will erupt.
• At this early stage of the severe weather outbreak, the main threat will be from powerful wind gusts during Monday night from central Texas to much of Oklahoma and southern Kansas. However, this will only mark the beginning or ramp-up phase of the severe weather.
• AccuWeather meteorologists believe there is a high risk of severe weather that represents a widespread threat from northeastern Texas to southwestern Tennessee. This area may also be the most prone to tornadoes, with that threat continuing after dark, adding to the danger.
• From Tuesday to Tuesday night, a massive area with few to numerous severe thunderstorms will extend from south Texas to Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and the Florida Panhandle. In addition to the likelihood of high winds and a few tornadoes, some of the storms will produce damaging hail and lightning, as well as flash flooding.
• As the storm lifts northward toward the Upper Midwest, the threat of severe weather will be carried into the Great Lakes region, part of the Atlantic Seaboard and the northeast Gulf coast on Wednesday and Wednesday night. There can even be thunder and lightning with gusty winds as far to the north as the St. Lawrence Valley and eastern New England.

Read the original article by clicking here.