Severe storms to strike again: Strong/severe storms containing large hail and damaging winds are likely today and tonight from central Texas to the Ohio and Tennessee River valleys. This includes, but is not limited to Abilene and Dallas-Ft. Worth (Texas), Shreveport, Little Rock, Memphis, St. Louis, Nashville, Louisville and Jackson (Mississippi). I can’t rule out a few tornadoes, too.
Isolated severe storms could pop up in other spots such as Midland, Springfield (Missouri), Birmingham, Chattanooga and Cincinnati, as well as from the Texas Panhandle to the Dakotas and Wyoming. Roadblocks are possible due to localized flash flooding, and the National Weather Service (NWS) has issued Flash Flood Watches for several areas.
Flooding continues along the Mississippi River: Barges from the upper Mississippi are still not allowed through the port of St. Louis due to ongoing high water. The goods they’re carrying won’t be able to go to ports at the Gulf of Mexico for export until the river drops below 38 feet, which may not be until this weekend.
Highways back open: Good news! The sections of I-29 that have been closed for weeks due to flooding — from St. Joseph, Missouri to US-34 in western Iowa, and from Council Bluffs to Loveland, Iowa — are open. Just a few ramps remain closed. Same goes for I-680 from the Nebraska-Iowa border to the I-29 junction. However, several sections of BNSF and Union Pacific rail subdivisions remain out of service in parts of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.