A large tornado tore through communities southeast of Rockford, Illinois, on Thursday evening, part of a larger outbreak of severe thunderstorms gripping the eastern half of the United States. Numerous videos show the strong tornado scraping across the landscape, and several buildings in the area were heavily damaged or destroyed.
Severe thunderstorms are rapidly firing up across the Upper Midwest this afternoon, with tornado watches in effect from central Missouri through the western shores of Lake Michigan. The largest cities under the risk for tornadoes this afternoon are Chicago and Milwaukee. Some of the tornadoes could be strong in the most well-organized supercells.
Things are going to get interesting in a hurry across the central part of the country this evening as severe thunderstorms rapidly develop in the moist, unstable air pumping in from the tropics. These dangerous thunderstorms even have the potential to produce a few tornadoes, some of which could be strong and stay on the ground for a while.
Do you get your weather from a weather app? The number of weather apps available for smartphones and tablets grows by the day, but they're not all equal. Your weather app likely sucks—in fact, some apps are so wrong that you're better off looking out the window. Here's how to remedy the situation.
The wealth of information available online puts the world at our fingertips—literally! You can click a link and look at a picture taken from space just a few minutes ago. This treasure trove of data is great, but it takes smart consumption to grow smarter about the world around us. Not all sources of weather information are equal, and we need to learn what sources are worth listening to, and which ones are peddling a load of sleet.
Today is the final day of a week-long severe weather outbreak that's produced hundreds of reports of large hail, damaging winds, and a couple of tornadoes across the central United States. The threat for severe thunderstorms is shifting east into more heavily populated areas. A few tornadoes are possible today from western Tennessee through the Washington D.C./Baltimore metro areas.
Behold! The Earth will rockblock the Moon from basking in sunshine for five minutes tonight. The islands in the Pacific will have the best view of the brief Earth Moon Shadow, but most of North America will see it, too, if you crawl out of bed early enough, but it's Saturday morning, and you won't do that.
Even though the temperature is slowly ticking up across the country, we still can't get over the traumas we suffered this winter. The first half of the winter wasn't all that bad, but that last month or two was brutal. Here's a look at how the season's snow totals stacked up in cities around the country.
Welcome to April! The next month looks like it'll be interesting, with warmer-than-average temperatures for much of the country, except the Northeast, where winter clings like tangy marinara to a plate of cold pasta. Sorry. This is no joke, either—we don't play those games. Nature really does just hate you.
It looks like nature is finally catching up with the calendar, as the southern and central portions of the United States are facing a risk for severe thunderstorms every day through Friday. Unfortunately for residents and vehicles alike, April promises to be more active than this underwhelming March.
For the past 36 hours, hurricane-force winds have raked through western Europe as a result of a strong low pressure system crashing ashore in Denmark. The strong winds are causing widespread damage, knocking out power, and interrupting hundreds of flights at some of the busiest airports in the world.
The National Weather Service failed to issue a tornado warning in Moore, Oklahoma, when a preliminary EF-1 tornado made a mess of the town for the sixth time in as many years on Wednesday. AccuWeather wasted no time blasting the agency for its failure while trumpeting their own success in warning clients twelve minutes before the storm struck. There's only one problem—their brand new television network didn't cover the storm, either.
Moore, Oklahoma, a city of more than 50,000 people that lies a few miles south of Oklahoma City, suffered a direct hit from its sixth tornado in the past fifteen years tonight. Numerous structures were significantly damaged by the tornado, including Southgate Elementary school.
Today is the second day of a two-part severe weather outbreak across the Plains states, with giant thunderstorms blowing up over Oklahoma and Arkansas. The storms have the potential to produce hail up to the size of tennis balls, so naturally, storm chasers are speeding towards them in hopes of catching nature at its fiercest.
Oklahoma City is one of the most threatened cities in the United States when it comes to severe weather. At least once a year—often more than that—nature throws violent tornadoes, enormous hail, and destructive winds at the city on the plains. That's why many people have found it a little unsettling that the city's news stations have shrugged off any attempt at standardization and decided to do their own thing when they talk about severe weather.
The first day of a two-part severe thunderstorm event is unfolding across the middle of the country, with an enhanced risk for severe weather—three on a scale from zero to five—possible in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri. Storms could produce very large hail, damaging winds, and a few tornadoes.
We've been lucky enough to see a lull in severe thunderstorms over the past couple of months, sparing countless towns from damage or destruction. Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end. Here's a primer on how to use severe weather forecasts to keep you and your loved ones safe this spring.
