Severe storm threat increases: 50M across Midwest, Ohio Valley face intense wind, possible tornadoes

Intense severe storms are expected to develop Thursday afternoon, threatening nearly 50 million people across the Midwest and the Ohio Valley. The threat has increased to a Level 3 out of 5 risk of severe storms according to the Storm Prediction Center for a corridor across central Illinois, central Indiana and central Ohio — including the Indianapolis metro area. A Level 2 out of 5 threat covers a wider area including Chicago. All modes of severe weather are possible including damaging wind gusts and egg-sized hail. Storms are expected to organize into a line by mid-to-late Thursday afternoon and tornadoes will be possible if enough energy is present for supercell thunderstorms to form.