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?

Risk of severe weather stretches across parts of the Midwest on Friday.

Hail topped 3 inches in diameter (bigger than baseballs) in both the Midwest and Plains on Friday, with many significant hail reports (over 2 inches). Hurricane force wind gusts also verified on Friday,

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

A new batch of severe storms fired up Wednesday afternoon, dropping softball-sized hail near Kansas City and golf-ball sized hail in Ohio.

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.

After severe storms damaged communities in the Plains and the Midwest, forecasters warned that storms could bring giant hail, tornadoes and severe wind gusts to the regions again. Authorities in Kansas reported several people with minor injuries after storms passed through on Monday.

Communities across the Midwest are still cleaning up from tornadoes that hit earlier this week. Another threat could bring more violent storms on Friday to parts of the region. Meanwhile, historic flooding in Michigan triggered evacuations in some areas.