Warmup for central, southern U.S. to spark more severe weather

More rounds of severe weather are forecast to target the central and eastern United States the coming week, with springtime warmth set to make a come back in between.

A month into the official start of spring, residents across the country are keeping an eye out for severe weather. AccuWeather meteorologists say that more thunderstorms are expected in the middle of the week.

A storm is set to emerge from the Rockies late on Tuesday and continue eastward on Wednesday. In doing so, it will enter the warmer air that will stream northward from the Gulf of Mexico early in the week. The clash of cooler air across the Rocky Mountains and mild air in the southern Plains could produce severe thunderstorms

"The dynamics of the atmosphere could be just right for some severe weather from Tuesday night through Wednesday," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Joseph Bauer. Areas most at risk include northern Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas through southeastern Kansas and Missouri.

Torrential downpours are expected to make localized flash flooding a risk in this zone, as well as large hail and damaging wind gusts.

Much of this zone has been hit by severe weather already in April in including in northern Texas and Arkansas as well as Nebraska and Iowa. Both locations have seen dozens of wind and hail reports and even a few tornadoes. Comparatively, there have been fewer severe weather reports in Kansas and Missouri.

The warm air that settles across the southern and central Plains is expected to not only continue, but expand behind this round of severe weather.

"Warmth is forecast to start off in the Plains, but will then be gradually spreading eastward throughout the week," Bauer said.

Temperatures are forecast to be around normal, in the middle 70s, from St. Louis and Nashville to Atlanta by Wednesday or Thursday. Meanwhile, communities from Oklahoma City to San Antonio are expected to be in the 80s.

The 80-degree afternoon highs are forecast to expand across the Southeast, and perhaps into portions of the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic by next weekend.

Several days of warm, dry conditions are likely to help fuel more severe weather in late-April.

"A new storm diving southward across the Rockies late in the week is expected to flip the pattern, and could make for a more impressive severe weather chance going into next weekend across the central U.S.," Bauer warned.

Bauer further explained that how widespread the potential for severe weather could be will be influenced by a number of factors, including how strong the new storm would be and how stubborn the warmup is this week.

Should the potent storm come to fruition, all modes of severe weather, from flooding downpours and hail to damaging winds and tornados could be possible.