NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — The Storm Prediction Center says severe thunderstorms are possible Saturday across the southern and central Plains as a cold front rolls out of the Rockies.

Humid air could extend well into the Mississippi and Missouri valleys, making the atmosphere ripe for storms. The forecasters say the greatest chance for bad weather is from eastern Oklahoma to northeastern Iowa, including parts of Kansas and Missouri, but that storms are also possible from Texas into Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Supercells with hail and possibly tornadoes could occur, especially before the storms form a squall line.

After a squall line forms, high winds could be worrisome.

The prediction center, based in Norman, Okla., categorizes the area from Austin, Texas, to Minneapolis and Milwaukee and Chicago as having a slight risk of severe storms.

[email_link]