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Tornadoes, hail possible as storms move through Midwest

This is the Weather Underground forecast for Thursday, June 23, 2016, for the United States. A frontal boundary will trigger scattered showers and thunderstorms rom the Southwest to the Central Plains and east over the Northeast. High pressure will produce dry and pleasant conditions over the Upper Midwest. (Weather Underground via AP) This is the Weather Underground forecast for Thursday, June 23, 2016, for the United States. A frontal boundary will trigger scattered showers and thunderstorms rom the Southwest to the Central Plains and east over the Northeast. High pressure will produce dry and pleasant conditions over the Upper Midwest. (Weather Underground via AP)

By Associated Press June 22, 2016 1 min read

CHICAGO (AP) – Powerful storms could bring hurricane-force winds, tornadoes and golf ball-sized hail to parts of the Midwest on Wednesday, including the Chicago area.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, warned that far eastern Iowa and northern Illinois could see “significant” tornadoes of an EF2 rating or higher on Wednesday afternoon and evening. Wind gusts could be 70 mph or greater with the worst weather expected in Chicago after 4 p.m.

Forecaster Matt Mosier said tornadoes will be possible for about two hours in a triangle roughly from Davenport, Iowa, to Chicago to Milwaukee. Damaging winds are then expected across northern Indiana, southern Michigan and western Ohio.

In all, about 98 million people could see stormy weather Wednesday in an area stretching from southern Minnesota to the East Coast.