A tornado watch was issued about 4 p.m. by the National Weather Service for parts of Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois. The NWS predicts that several tornadoes are likely to form throughout the storm, with widespread tennis ball-sized hail and gusts up to 80 mph.

A busy stretch of severe thunderstorms is underway due to record heat and now the threats are ramping up, putting major metro areas from Chicago to Nashville under threat as the country hits the peak of tornado season.