This F4 wedge tornado was nearly a mile wide in Binger, Okla. on May 22, 1981. Photo courtesy of the National Weather Service and the National Severe Storms Laboratory.

Atmospheric conditions continue to build and favor a multiple-day violent thunderstorm and tornado outbreak spanning late Saturday into Monday.

There is potential for loss of life and widespread destruction in some communities this weekend in parts of the Plains and Midwest, and even into part of the Northeast on Monday.

As some residents of the Plains, Ohio Valley and the Virginias found out Friday night and Saturday morning, the atmosphere is ripe for severe weather. However, that is just barely scraping the surface of what could end up being a very memorable event for the Heartland.

A slow-moving storm system, combined with plenty of jet stream energy overhead, will begin to trigger severe thunderstorms late Saturday from near the Red River of the South in Oklahoma and Texas to close to the headwaters of the Red River of the North in Minnesota and the Dakotas.

Warm, humid air will be forced to rise in violent fashion over invading cooler, drier air to the west, north and aloft. A strong jet stream will help to grow a number of the storms into monsters, even causing individual thunderstorms to spin.

The greatest concentration of nastiest storms late Saturday and Saturday night will lie from eastern Nebraska northeastward through southern Minnesota and southwestern Wisconsin.

During Sunday afternoon and evening, the clustering of the worst storms is likely to stretch over much of Wisconsin, northern and central Illinois and eastern Iowa into much of Missouri.

While the setup for the worst thunderstorms and strongest tornadoes will diminish somewhat upon moving eastward Monday, there can still be a few violent thunderstorms, including a handful of tornadoes, in a region spanning portions of Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, western New York and southern Ontario.

This multi-day outbreak will produce multiple strong tornadoes that pose great risk to lives and property in and of themselves.

In addition to the tornado threat is potential for storms producing golf ball- to baseball-sized hail, flash flooding, wind gusts capable of downing trees, and many lighting strikes.

You don’t have to be hit by a tornado to have major damage or to be at risk for injury.

As we have said this week here on AccuWeather.com, this outbreak could rival the event of nearly a week ago in terms of the number of reported severe weather incidents, making this month especially nasty for severe weather.

Considering that this outbreak may include multiple strong tornadoes, the amount of damage and casualties caused could be much greater.

Please stay on top of this dangerous weather situation. You can find the latest National Weather Service watches and warnings here on AccuWeather.com.

Be sure to have a plan of action in place in case violent weather is spotted in your neighborhood.