article: Lightning, floods and a deluge of hailstones descended on St Louis Tuesday as powerful storms pummeled the mid-United States. Roads around the Missouri city were flooded in the intense downpour, with one town recording more than two inches of rain in half an hour. Several crashes followed the atrocious driving weather, though no injuries were immediately reported. Muds and floods: Roads around St Louis, Missouri, were deluged with rainwater following fierce thunderstorms . Floating away: Here a trash can is seen floating down a street affected by the floods, as a car kicks up spray trying to ford the waters . Downpour: The area was faced with a deluge of hail stones - an enormous pile of which are pictured here . The storms, accompanied by thunder and lightning, also hit further north, barreling into parts of Indiana and knocking down trees and power lines. The severe weather in Missouri produced reports of more than 3 inches of rainfall near Augusta west of St. Louis, National Weather Service meteorologist Laura Kanofsky said. Areas of flash flooding were commonplace throughout St. Louis County before the band of severe weather crept out of the region before noon Tuesday, she added. KMOV-TV reported that a lightning strike caused a Mississippi River traffic signal on the Eads Bridge linking Missouri and Illinois to malfunction. Crews notified the Coast Guard to inform any barge traffic of the issue. Later in the day, storms in southwestern Indiana toppled trees and downed power lines. Indiana State Police reported that strong winds caused a semitrailer to overturn on Interstate 69 near Evansville. Wind gusts measuring 70 mph were recorded in Spencer. Wet n wild: Flash flooding tore through St Louis county after hours of storms. In some palces, two inches of rain hit in just half an hour . More storms were possible elsewhere in the central U.S. Spring warming and changes in where the jet stream carves a path in the upper atmosphere were combining to increase the chances of severe weather across the Plains on Wednesday and Thursday, the Storm Prediction Center said. Particularly strong storms were possible in Kansas and Oklahoma on Wednesday and across Illinois on Thursday, with large hail, high wind gusts and a few tornadoes possible. Other severe storms could form from Michigan to Texas both days. The various contributors to severe weather — instability, heat, frontal passages — won't time out perfectly Wednesday but still will cause problems, said Greg Carbin, the warning coordination meteorologist at the Norman, Oklahoma-based center. 'By Thursday, it looks like all those ingredients come together. The timing looks better. You can really blow up some big storms,' Carbin said.
highlights: St Louis was hit Tuesday by flash floods .
  A nearby town had more than two inches of rain in less than half an hour .
prediction: Tuesday as 
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