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April 17 (UPI) -- Powerful thunderstorms that may spawn tornadoes are forecast to threaten at least two dozen states from Texas to to the Eastern Seaboard starting on Wednesday. The National Weather Service issued warnings for an enhanced risk of thunderstorms in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas on on Wednesday, with the sever weather expected to move east on Thursday and Friday.
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"Expect damaging hail, a few severe gusts and possible tornadoes late this afternoon and this evening," the NWS said.
Wednesday night is forecast to bring a risk of tornadoes in Arkansas, northwestern Louisiana and northeastern and central Texas, while severe weather risks will extend to central and southeastern Missouri and western Illinois, AccuWeather reported.
The storm is set to intensify while moving eastward along the Gulf Coast on Thursday and strengthening winds will enable "supercell" thunderstorms, increasing the threat of tornadoes and harmful winds in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Weather risks are also predicted to extend to the Alabama and Florida panhandles, including potential flash flooding in Atlanta on Thursday night or early Friday morning.
More strengthening is forecast due to an increase in moisture as the storm nears the Atlantic Ocean on Friday with the risk of severe thunderstorms extending north through Virginia, Maryland and Delaware and south through Georgia and Florida.
"The most likely area for tornadoes may be close to the Carolina coast, where a breeze from the Atlantic Ocean may impart extra spin in the low levels of the atmosphere," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Kottlowski said.
Wednesday's severe weather comes after thunder storms and tornadoes moved from the southern United States to the Atlantic Coast earlier this week, killing at least nine people.
