Cities such as Chicago, Minneapolis and Milwaukee are at risk for a severe weather outbreak, forecasters said.

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.

The worst of the storms have passed out of the Twin Cities metro but tornado warnings have been issued in parts of northern Minnesota and western Wisconsin as the storms push east. There was a report of an observed tornado in the New Richmond area and near Roberts around 3:30 p.