Benton County EMA Coordintor, Dean Vrba has shared information from the National Weather Service in the Quad cities about a severe thunderstorm risk today in our area. The primary threat includes damaging winds up to 60 to 80 mph, and the storms may come with embedded tornadoes.
"This is anticipated to be a fast-moving storm with high winds. The criteria for Benton County to activate sirens is when the winds will be 70+ MPH and this is what this storm is capable of producing. But Friday before the storm we are in a High Fire Danger as well, please urge our residents not to burn Friday," Vrba said.
A Red Flag Warning is also now in effect, area-wide, and a wind advisory will be in effect from 1:00 p.m. on Friday through 1:00 a.m. on Saturday.
The storms are expected to be moving at “highway speeds†(60+ mph), giving folks “much less time than normal to react.†The upside of this, is the storms are expected to move through the area quickly, however, the NWS also warned that “strong non-thunderstorm winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph will persist behind the storms overnight Friday night into Saturday.â€
