Less than a week after a swarm of powerful tornadoes devastated Kentucky and four other states, a freakish wind storm brought “Dust Bowl” conditions and gusts of more than 100 mph to parts of the Great Plains and Upper Midwest, meteorologists said on Wednesday, December 15.
The storm system could also pummel the region with thunderstorms and snow, the National Weather Service said in an advisory. “This is highly unusual,” Chenard said. “It’s shifting east and is unusual for this large of an area, it will be going through the Great Lakes area, Michigan and into Canada by Thursday morning,” he said.
The wind storm follows one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history. At least 74 people were killed in Kentucky and 14 died in other states when that storm system swept across the Great Plains and parts of the South last Friday night and early Saturday morning.The National Weather Service said in its forecast that the high winds from the current system would pick up overnight on Wednesday and race across the Upper Midwest into Canada by Thursday.