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Severe weather is expected Thursday, including possible tornadoes and flash flooding across much of the Heartland, from the Great Plains to Texas and North Dakota.<\/p>\n
Nine states are also under flood warnings from Montana to Mississippi.<\/p>\n
A tornado watch is in effect for northern Louisiana until 5 pm local time Thursday. A couple of tornadoes are possible, along with damaging wind gusts up to 65 mph and isolated large hail events up to 1 inch in diameter. <\/p>\n
Kansas and Oklahoma are also at risk for severe weather Thursday evening into the night. Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Wichita are under an elevated risk for tornadoes and large hail, mainly between 6pm and 11pm local time.<\/p>\n
The weather comes after 11 tornadoes hit three states Wednesday: Colorado, Arkansas and Kansas. Some damage was reported in Kansas, where there was a tornado.<\/p>\n
Softball-sized hail was reported in Colorado and Kansas with winds of up to 81 mph with the severe storms.<\/p>\n
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Strong thunderstorms are once again expected across the Plains from Texas to Iowa on Friday. Cities like San Antonio; Dallas; Oklahoma City; Kansas City, Missouri; and Des Moines, Iowa, could see damaging winds, large hail and brief tornadoes. Brief tornadoes are more likely in pockets from Des Moines to Kansas City, while Oklahoma City to San Antonio will likely see large hail.<\/p>\n
Aside from the bad weather, South Texas will also see some very heavy rain over the next few days. Locally, 6 to 10 inches of rain are possible, along with a flash flood threat Friday into the weekend. <\/p>\n
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Flood warnings are also in effect from the Dakotas to Colorado and Montana, where heavy rain is also expected.<\/p>\n
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To the west, a summer-like heat wave is expected from Seattle and Portland, Ore., into central California over the weekend and could bring significant, record-breaking heat.<\/p>\n
An excessive heat watch is in effect for Seattle and Portland Saturday through Monday. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid to high 80s in Seattle and into the 90s in Portland.<\/p>\n
Record highs are also possible for several days in a row in the Pacific Northwest over the weekend and into early next week. <\/p>\n