The Latest: Oklahoma residents shield property from hail

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Latest on severe weather predicted in the central and eastern U.S. (all times local):

11:30 a.m.

Some Oklahoma residents are taking steps to secure property from tornadoes, fast-sweeping winds and potentially damaging large hail.

George Eischen says he spent Tuesday morning moving vehicles off the lot at his Chevrolet dealership in the small town of Fairview, about 100 miles northwest of Oklahoma City.

Forecasters are predicting giant hail the size of grapefruits could fall on parts of the Great Plains on Tuesday.

Eischen says he has been lining the new vehicles “bumper to bumper” inside the shop and even the lobby to protect them from the hail, which he calls “the real enemy of the car dealer.”

The 51-year-old Eischen says the town of Fairview has never been hit by a tornado, but it is close to the sites of two large earthquakes recorded earlier this year.

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9:45 a.m.

Officials have removed aircraft from a Kansas military base to prevent them from being damaged during expected heavy storms.

McConnell Air Force Base spokesman Colby Hardin says the aircraft are being sent to Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington, and Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, is forecasting severe storms with the possibility of tornadoes and large hail Tuesday, including in the Wichita area. McConnell is about 9 mile southeast of Wichita.

The aircraft and support personnel will return when conditions are safe. The air base is open for business Tuesday.

McConnell currently houses mostly 1950s-era KC-135 refuelling tanks. That fleet is being replaced by new KC-46A tankers, which are scheduled to begin arriving next year.

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8 a.m.

The Storm Prediction Center says nearly 50 million people are at risk for severe weather.

Forecasters say giant and destructive hail is likely in parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas on Tuesday. The latest forecast says “significant” tornadoes are also possible in those states, but baseball-sized hail or larger will be more widespread.

In the east, Washington, D.C., is now considered at slight risk for damaging winds and hail on Tuesday, along with Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Forecasters say the storms are expected to hit Tuesday afternoon and evening.

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6:50 a.m.

Stormy weather in the eastern U.S. could bring damaging winds to Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania, where voters are casting ballots in primary elections.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, says Philadelphia and Baltimore are at a slight risk for severe weather Tuesday. Forecasters say a storm system — separate from the one taking aim at Great Plains states — could bring isolated severe thunderstorms, hail and powerful wind gusts to the Mid-Atlantic on Tuesday afternoon and early evening.

Polls close in the three states at 8 p.m. Voters in Rhode Island and Connecticut also cast ballots Tuesday.

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6:15 a.m.

A handful of Oklahoma schools have preemptively cancelled classes Tuesday in light of an ominous forecast that’s predicting dangerous tornadoes and giant hail for parts of the Great Plains.

Mid-Del Public Schools in the Oklahoma City suburb of Midwest City called off classes, saying that the safety and security of students and staff was the top priority. That district, along with others across Oklahoma, implemented new tornado safety plans following the 2013 twister that killed seven schoolchildren in Moore.

The Storm Prediction Center says much of the central U.S. is at risk for severe weather Tuesday, including tornadoes and grapefruit-sized hail. In all, nearly 37 million people are at a slight risk or higher for severe weather Tuesday.

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1:20 a.m.

School districts and authorities are bracing for the possibility of a severe weather outbreak that could bring powerful, long-track tornadoes and large hail to the Great Plains.

The weather on Tuesday could include heavy winds, tornadoes and hail as large as baseballs or softballs. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, says the most dangerous weather will likely take aim at an approximately 70,000-square-mile area stretching from southern Oklahoma to southern Nebraska.

In all, nearly 37 million people from the Rio Grande River in South Texas to Omaha, Nebraska, and the western regions of Missouri, Arkansas and Iowa are at a slight risk or higher of experiencing severe weather Tuesday.

In the east, a separate storm system could bring thunderstorms, strong winds and hail to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., but the risk of severe outbreaks is low.