FREE ACCESS: Bootheel area facing elevated tornado risk late Friday night

The risk of a tornado hitting the Poplar Bluff area has been elevated.

Poplar Bluff could be battered by winds as high as 50-70 mph Friday evening, according to National Weather Service - Paducah Lead Forecaster Keith Cooley. A significant weather system is set to sweep across the center of the country, stretching from Iowa down to northern Arkansas.

“This is a pretty dangerous, severe weather event tonight,” Coley noted. “Based on the current models, we’re fairly confident that there will likely be tornadoes developing in the areas between Southeast Missouri and Western Kentucky.”

Though the risk is categorized as moderate, Cooley remarked that historically moderate risks can bring bad things.

“The last moderate risk event was May 26, 2024 and there was a high-impact event then,” Cooley said. “The majority of moderate risk events end up with significant impacts.”

Cooley went on to explain the primary risks for the Southeast Missouri area are high winds and possible tornadoes.

“Hail and flooding are possible, but those events are less likely,” Cooley explained. “The Southeast Missouri area will likely start to be hit with high winds at around 9 p.m.,” Cooley said. “And the storms will follow at around 10 p.m. With the winds being so high, it is possible the storms will also hit with high winds.”

Cooley aid it is important that area residents go to bed in a secure location and have a reliable way of receiving alerts while they sleep.

“We really want to emphasize that everyone needs to be in a safe location,’ Cooley remarked. “And with the high-speed winds, you won’t very likely won’t be able to step outside and see it coming. If it hits the area it will likely be pretty sudden.”

The storms are predicted to last throughout the night and into the early morning hours of Saturday, with areas of western Kentucky and southern Indiana predicted to receive the most rainfall.