‘Ring of fire’ to ignite severe storm threats across northern, southern US as flood potential grows

Rounds of severe storms developed over the northern and southern tiers of the U.S. on Wednesday as a large dome of high pressure sits across the East, the FOX Forecast Center said.

The first Severe Thunderstorm Watch box of the event was issued for communities in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia where thunderstorms were taking the unusual track of starting along the coast and working westbound.

Across the northern tier of the country, severe weather watches stretched from Nebraska through western Wisconsin and included a Tornado Watch south of Minneapolis.

The possibility of downbursts (localized areas of intense, damaging winds) exists within this line of storms, the FOX Forecast Center said. All the storms will be full of moisture and will form into clusters where heavier rain totals could occur.

A chance of flash flooding exists across the central and eastern Gulf Coast and Florida Panhandle. Rain totals of up to 3-5 inches are possible, especially closer to the Gulf Coast.

On Wednesday afternoon, a severe thunderstorm outside of Washington, D.C. caused a wind gust of 70 mph at Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia.

Power outages topped 20,000 in the state as thunderstorms worked in the general direction from north to south.

And in southern Minnesota, there were half a dozen reports of tornadoes, with at least one barn that was destroyed during the severe weather.

Residents in Hartland, Minnesota, took photos and video of the twisters as they moved through Freeborn County, which is southwest of Rochester.

One of the narrow-shaped vortexes appeared to move through an open field as the thunderstorms generally worked from southwest to northeast on the northwest side of the ridge.

As the ridge of high pressure continues to break down, afternoon storms will remain in the forecast into the end of the week, the FOX Forecast Center said.