Map Shows Three States Bracing for 'Unusual' Winter Storm

Three states are bracing for what meteorologists are calling an "unusual" winter storm as warm air and moisture threatens tornados in the Midwest.

Several states will experience unseasonably warm temperatures at the end of the week, but the balmy weather comes with a set of unusual risks, as conditions are right for rare winter tornadoes to form in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. There is an even greater potential that severe thunderstorms will impact millions of people in the same region.

A map published by AccuWeather shows that the thunderstorm risk is prevalent for southern and southeastern Wisconsin, northern Illinois and southeastern Iowa. The biggest threat for tornados will be near Rockford, Illinois, and a small area of southern Wisconsin.

"It's an unusual set up across the Great Lakes, that's why we're concerned," AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter told Newsweek.

The risk for severe thunderstorms with isolated tornados will be highest late Thursday afternoon into the evening hours. Meteorologists expect damaging winds gusting up to 70 mph in one or two spots in the risk area.

As of early Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a wind advisory for much of Iowa.

"Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result," the warning said.

Porter said that the thunderstorms are moving rapidly, which makes for an even bigger concern.

"In those scenarios, if people are not paying attention to severe weather warnings, thunderstorms approach very quickly and they have little time to react," Porter said.

It is the first severe thunderstorm threat of the year. The last time severe storms brought high winds to Wisconsin was in October, AccuWeather reported.

"The most likely zone for severe weather Thursday afternoon will be from near and north of Davenport, Iowa, to Rockford, Illinois, and Madison, Wisconsin," AccuWeather senior storm warning meteorologist Eddie Walker said in the AccuWeather report.

Porter added that unusual weather phenomena are happening more frequently outside of typical areas and seasons because of the changing climate.

"These sorts of things are happening at different times of the year than what people might normally associate with that hazard," Porter said. "Preparation and preparedness are very key."

The storm threat comes in advance of a shift in weather patterns that will bring plunging temperatures and accumulating snow to a strip from the Midwest toward the interior New England states. That storm is expected to hit early next week, with the most severe impacts expected on Tuesday.