Meteorologist Ryan Hall is warning that the weather pattern unfolding over the central United States is no longer just something to keep an eye on in passing.
In his latest forecast on Ryan Hall, Y’all, Hall said the storm setup developing from the Plains into the Midwest is about to turn into a multi-day severe weather stretch, with the greatest concern building from this weekend into early next week. His message was pretty straightforward: this is the kind of pattern that can start with scattered severe storms and then quickly evolve into something much larger and more dangerous.
And what stands out most is not just one single day on the map.
It is the fact that Ryan is tracking several days in a row with serious storm potential, each one shifting the danger zone east or north while keeping millions of people under threat from large hail, damaging winds, flash flooding, and tornadoes.
Thursday Starts Things Off in the Central Plains
Hall began by focusing on Thursday’s setup, which he said would put parts of northeast Kansas, northwest Missouri, and nearby areas under a slight risk for severe weather.
Ryan pointed to places like Topeka, Kansas City, and St. Joseph as areas where the danger window opens during the afternoon and runs into the evening commute. According to Hall, a sharp warm front lifting northward will collide with colder air aloft and strong wind shear, helping isolated supercells develop before they eventually merge into a more solid line.
He said the main threat on Thursday looks to be very large hail, potentially larger than 1.75 inches in diameter.
That kind of hail is not just a nuisance. Hall made clear it is the sort that can shatter windshields, damage vehicles, and create major problems for anyone caught on the road when storms begin to fire.
Ryan also warned that the lower atmosphere will be fairly dry, which matters because rainfall falling through that dry air can evaporate and cool rapidly, causing strong downdrafts. In everyday terms, that means some of these storms could throw out damaging wind gusts even before the bigger weekend setup arrives.
By sunset, Hall said those isolated storms could merge into a stronger wall of wind and hail capable of downing tree limbs and knocking out power across parts of northeast Kansas, northwest Missouri, and even southeastern Nebraska.
But in Hall’s view, that is only the beginning.
Saturday Brings West Texas Into Focus
After Thursday’s storm risk in the central Plains, Ryan said a separate system begins to take shape farther south and west on Saturday.
This time, West Texas lands in the spotlight.
Hall said the Storm Prediction Center had already highlighted a 15 percent severe weather risk for areas including Lubbock, Amarillo, Odessa, and Midland. He described Saturday as the opening act of the larger outbreak, with strong winds aloft combining with a humid and unstable air mass to support rotating supercells.
Ryan said 60 mph wind gusts could be part of the picture, along with flying debris and strong enough storms to create real problems for outdoor events. He even mentioned Midland specifically, warning that anybody planning to be outside there should have a solid backup plan.
What makes Saturday especially notable is that Hall said these storms may also tap into an unusually deep moisture pool for April.
That means torrential rainfall becomes part of the conversation too, not just hail and wind. Underpasses, low-lying roads, and flood-prone spots could start taking on water very quickly if one of these storms stalls or trains over the same area.
Still, Hall made it clear that even Saturday may be overshadowed by what happens next.
Sunday Looks Like the Day Things “Blow Up”
If Thursday is the appetizer and Saturday is the opening act, Ryan Hall made Sunday sound like the point where this forecast turns into something much more serious.
He said more than 14 million people are in the path of what could become a major severe weather outbreak across the southern Plains, especially along the Interstate 35 corridor.
That includes Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa.
Ryan said the newest model runs were trending worse, not better, showing a higher ceiling for explosive supercell development than what forecasters saw just a day earlier. In his words, Sunday is when things really “blow up.”
That is strong language, but it matched the way he described the ingredients coming together.
Hall pointed to a powerful 50-to-60-knot jet stream aloft crashing into a warm, unstable, moisture-rich atmosphere. That combination, he said, is exactly what can produce explosive updrafts, extreme wind shear, and rotating supercells capable of large tornadoes, baseball-size hail, and widespread straight-line winds over 70 mph.
He also warned that flash flooding will be part of the setup, especially with storms capable of dumping torrential rainfall in a short period of time.
This is where the forecast starts feeling less like a scattered severe-weather day and more like the kind of event people across North Texas and Oklahoma need to actively plan around.
Ryan said anyone with outdoor plans Sunday from central Texas into Oklahoma should either cancel them or at the very least know exactly where their indoor shelter option is. That is a practical point, and probably the right one. When forecasters start talking about tents not surviving 70 mph winds, it is no longer a casual weather weekend.
Monday Expands the Danger Into a New Region
One of the most important parts of Hall’s forecast is that the danger does not end after Sunday.
Instead, Ryan said Monday shifts the severe weather threat north and east into a broader and potentially even more populated area, putting more than 21 million people at risk.
He said the threat zone could stretch from Abilene, Texas, all the way to Rochester, Minnesota.
That is a huge reach, and it shows just how broad this storm system may become once it gets fully organized.
Hall said the models were in “alarming agreement” that Monday would be another highly volatile severe weather day. He added that while the storm mode may transition more toward a squall line, the tornado threat would not disappear. Instead, tornadoes could develop in discrete cells ahead of the line or become embedded within it.
Kansas City and Tulsa, in particular, stood out in Hall’s forecast as being in the bullseye.
He also warned that places like Des Moines and Chicago, while just outside the main zone for now, still need to watch closely because these setups can shift. On top of that, Ryan said already saturated ground in Missouri could make flash flooding a serious problem as the heavier rain arrives.
What makes Monday especially dangerous, in his telling, is that the storms may keep going long after dark.
That matters because nighttime severe weather is a different kind of threat. People are home, asleep, or less likely to be checking radar or forecast updates. Hall stressed that anyone in the path needs a warning method that will actually wake them up.
That is not hype. That is basic survival advice.
Tuesday Keeps the Engine Running
By Tuesday, a lot of people may assume the worst has already moved out.
Ryan Hall’s forecast says not so fast.
He said the atmosphere still refuses to quit, with the severe threat expected to push into the Mississippi Valley while keeping about 17 million people at risk from the Dallas area up the Interstate 44 corridor toward St. Louis.
Hall acknowledged that Tuesday’s timing is fuzzier this far out, but he still expects the most dangerous period to come in the afternoon and evening.
The broader point he kept making is that the same Gulf moisture feed will still be in place, keeping the severe-weather engine running. That means rotating supercells, golf-ball-size hail or larger, and tornadoes may still be possible even after four straight days of storms.
By the time the system finally begins to clear later next week, Ryan said a huge swath of the country may be left cleaning up from what he described as a four-day severe-weather siege.
That sounds dramatic, but honestly, if multiple days of hail, tornado threats, damaging winds, and flooding end up verifying, it will feel dramatic on the ground too.
South Florida Is Already Dealing With a Different Emergency
Ryan also made clear that while the Plains and Midwest are gearing up for the weekend outbreak, South Florida is already dealing with its own dangerous setup.
He said life-threatening flash flooding was already a serious issue for millions in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale metro areas, with a flood watch continuing into Thursday along the Atlantic coast from Palm Beach to Miami.
Hall described a stalled front acting like a conveyor belt, feeding deep tropical moisture into the same coastal areas over and over again. That could lead to localized rainfall totals near 8 inches in some places, easily overwhelming drainage systems.
He also said strong onshore winds and high waves would make the flooding worse by slowing drainage into the ocean.
That means some parts of Florida may be dealing with flooded streets and waterlogged ground just as the rest of the central U.S. begins preparing for severe storms farther west.
It is a reminder that this is not a one-region weather story. The whole national pattern is active.
A Bigger April Pattern Is Taking Hold
Toward the end of the forecast, Hall zoomed out and made what may be the biggest point of all.
He said the 8-to-14-day outlook shows this stormy pattern staying locked in, with above-normal temperatures in the East, a developing trough over the central and western U.S., and even more severe weather chances ahead. On top of that, he warned that repeated rainfall on already saturated ground would likely bring river flooding concerns to parts of the Midwest, while the desert Southwest could face critical wildfire danger from strong winds and dry conditions.
That is the kind of broad, unstable April pattern Ryan said can produce some of the year’s worst weather.
He also said this is one of the more active-looking patterns he has seen in a long time.
That may be the simplest way to frame everything he laid out. This is not just one rough day of spring weather. It is a broader shift toward a much more dangerous setup, with multiple rounds of storms, multiple kinds of hazards, and a good chance that new forecast details will only sharpen the concern as the weekend gets closer.
The smartest takeaway right now is the same one Hall kept repeating in different ways: do not be scared, but do be prepared.
That is especially true if you live anywhere near the I-35 corridor, across the southern Plains, or farther north into the Midwest where Monday’s threat may take shape. Because once this weekend storm gets serious, it may stay serious for several days in a row.
Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.
