Five tornadoes hit the Kansas City area Monday night. Did a change in National Weather Service balloon launches leave forecasters in the dark about the threat for much of the day?

Six tornadoes were reported and hail up to 4 inches across damaged cars and homes. Damage surveys are underway as heavy rain raises flooding concerns in parts of the region.

The tornado made “like a whirring sound … and I could hear things being ripped off (the house),” one resident said.

CNN reports that more than 24 tornadoes have been reported from eastern Kansas to southern Minnesota and Wisconsin since Monday night, with more severe weather possible in some areas for the next 24 hours. The report also has an interactive map of the United States showing at least 27 reported tornadoes in the last seven days.

Multiple tornadoes tore through Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin on Friday, leaving heavy damage in Lena, Illinois, and forcing evacuations in Rochester and Marion, Minnesota.

Tornadoes were spotted after dark Tuesday in parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, while portions of Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri were also under a tornado watch. Severe storms continued to barrel through the Midwest early Wednesday, unleashing a curtain ...

Dozens of tornadoes and intense thunderstorms swept across the Midwest on Sunday, causing extensive damage in several central Illinois communities, killing at least five people and prompting officials at Chicago’s Soldier Field to evacuate the stands and ...

Severe thunderstorms tore across parts of the Midwest, producing multiple tornadoes and unleashing destructive hail and damaging wind.

The air has been sticky, with temperatures rising through the afternoon each day before the clouds start to appear. By evening, the phone alerts begin to sound, announcing warnings of thunderstorms that could bring giant hail, damaging winds, flash floods or even dangerous tornadoes.