These areas face a significant threat of potentially destructive winds that could cause widespread power outages and tree damage.

CARTERVILLE, Ill. (WSIL) — A tornado watch has been issued for the entire region until 11 p.m. The National Weather Service issued the tornado watch which includes all of southern Illinois, southeast Missouri, western Kentucky and northwest Tennessee. The watch also extends into Indiana and further north into Illinois and into Arkansas.

Millions of people are under tornado watches across the central United States on Sunday, as a volatile weather system has triggered power outages and huge hail. Nearly 175 million people from Illinois to eastern Texas and beyond could be affected,

Hail and massive wind gusts pelted the Chicago area as severe thunderstorms rumbled through Sunday afternoon. The system had prompted a tornado watch covering most of northeastern Illinois and northwest Indiana, but the National Weather Service canceled it by 3:15 p.m. with storms rolling out over Lake Michigan.

A series of severe storms triggered tornado warnings and tornado watches in much of central and northern Illinois on March 19, moving out of the area by late evening. The storms caused a smattering of power outages in northwest Indiana and widespread damage across the Chicagoland area.

Forecasters warned of widespread damaging winds, very large hail and tornadoes, from Texas to the East Coast starting on Sunday.

A tornado watch was issued Sunday afternoon until 7 p.m. for an area with over 10.5 million residents spanning 10 counties in northeastern Illinois and five counties in northern Indiana.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a Tornado Watch for the entire Wabash Valley for Sunday afternoon into the evening hours. In Indiana, a

While parts of central Illinois remain under a tornado watch, another weather phenomenon called a "gustnado" could also threaten the region.

National Weather Service weather balloon releases — tracking temperature, pressure and wind speed — have been temporarily suspended in Omaha, Nebraska, and Rapid City, South Dakota, because of staff shortages and reduced at six other sites in the Midwest and Great Plains, according to agency memos.