Lost everything in the Kentucky tornado except hope 3:36
(CNN) -
A "substantial severe weather event -- including the possibility of significant tornadoes -- remains evident over the Lower Mississippi Valley/Central Gulf Coast" by this week, the Storm Prediction Center said Sunday.
A powerful low pressure system sweeping across the western highlands this Sunday will become the catalyst for a multi-day outbreak of severe weather this week in the southern plains and Gulf Coast region.
Starting Monday, more than 20 million people along the Gulf Coast could be affected by destructive winds, very large hail and tornadoes.
Tornadoes in the United States: the 10 deadliest in history
The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has issued a level 3 out of 5 "increased" risk for severe storms in parts of Texas and Louisiana, and includes Houston, Austin and Waco, Texas.
A Tier 2 "slight" risk surrounds increased risk and includes San Antonio and the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Here you can see the tracking of severe storms.
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For the Ark-La-Tex region, the tornado threat increases during the overnight hours.
Tornadoes that occur at night are more than twice as likely to be deadly than those that occur during the day.
When tornadoes occur during the day, people are awake, alert, and make a conscious effort to look for weather alerts.
At night, it's a different story.
Making sure you have a weather radio, weather app on your phone, or some other alert system to wake you up is imperative if you live in an area that expects severe storms overnight.
For Tuesday, the threat of severe weather increases as it moves farther east.
The potential for strong tornadoes, hail, and destructive straight-line winds exists from Lafayette, Louisiana, east to Huntsville, Alabama.
Powerful storms could bring damaging winds, hail and possible tornadoes to the southeastern US.
The SPC issued a level 4 out of 5 "moderate" risk for severe storms in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, and includes Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Jackson, Mississippi.
A level 3 "increased" risk surrounds moderate risk and includes New Orleans.
Nighttime tornadoes will also be a concern Tuesday night for areas of Alabama, southern Mississippi and far western Florida.
On Wednesday, the focus becomes an area between Mobile, Alabama, and Columbia, South Carolina.
Warm, moist air will rise from the Gulf of Mexico ahead of the advance of the cold front, which will also increase the potential for flooding.
"Rainfall totals of more than 2 inches are possible and could create rapid runoff and flooding issues," the Weather Prediction Center said.
While most areas of the Southeast will get 1 to 3 inches of rain, isolated spots could get up to 4 inches through Wednesday.
Tall columns of fire consume central Texas 0:48
Texas could use the rain
Texas has been ravaged by fires over the past week along with worsening drought conditions in recent months.
More than 90% of the state is in drought, according to the US Drought Monitor update released Thursday morning.
But before much-needed rain arrives on Monday, low humidity and gusty winds ahead of the cold front will increase the fire threat.
Elevated and critical fire weather forecasts were issued for parts of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota for Sunday.
Widespread sustained winds of 32 to 40 km/h are expected throughout the region, with gusts to 72 to 80 km/h.
Minimum relative humidities will drop to 10-15% on Sunday afternoon.
While the rain is set to arrive Monday, it might not fall soon enough.
Most of the Texas panhandle hasn't seen significant rain for much of the winter, which largely prevented the normal March "greening" and left areas with a high dry fuel load, which simply means it's more likely that the driest plants burn.
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