Taban Sharifi grew up in Southern California between Los Angeles and San Diego. She is a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) with the American Meteorological Society (AMS). She has a B.S. in Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Environmental Sciences with a minor in Environmental Systems and Society from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Go Bruins! While in school, Taban was a meteorology intern with NBC LA. There she helped forecast daily weather for the greater Los Angeles region and created a playbook to deploy weather sensors for NBC owned-and-operated stations across the country. Her first on-air job took her to San Angelo, Texas, where she was a morning meteorologist and co-anchor. Working in West Texas gave her knowledge and experience covering severe storms. From there, she moved to Palm Springs, California. People think forecasting in California is sunshine all the time, but with temperatures in the 120’s, wildfires, damaging winds, floodings, and earthquakes, the forecasting kept her very busy! She also worked there as a general assignment reporter and told community stories. Taban is excited for the challenge and opportunity to forecast nationally with WeatherNation. She also looks forward to exploring all that Colorado has to offer!

Taban Sharifi

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We have a rather wet pattern ahead for a lot of the Southwest going into the late week! To a lot of folks, this will be great news! The West has been begging for a good drink for a while. Just look at the drought monitor!<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-29 084430-1777473875041.png">For the rest of Wednesday, off and on rain showers will be possible for Colorado. Afterwards, rainfall is expected to really ramp up across New Mexico and Colorado on Thursday, which will likely be the wettest day this week.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/New Baron Video 3-1777494986325.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>But just how much moisture are we gonna pick up? Well, the Rockies are forecast to pick up a foot of snow across much of Colorado. We can also expect about half an inch to even an inch of rain across the majority of New Mexico and Colorado for locations at lower elevations.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/1-1777495052716.png">Winter Storm Warnings and Advisories have been added for portions of Colorado and New Mexico. Totals could range anywhere between 5 - 15".<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/1-1777495128468.png">Minor to Major impacts from winter weather will be possible across the higher elevations of the Front Range south through the Sangre De Cristo. The Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70 and the Monarch Pass on US-50 may become impacted locations over the next few days.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-29 084404-1777473851393.png">Monsoon season is right around the corner!<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-29 084445-1777473901663.png">Be sure to join us at :50 past the hour on WeatherNation for your complete West Regional forecast breakdown!

Jesse Kelley

Cut-off Low Increases Rain and Snow Chances Out West

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<h2>Rainfall &amp; Forecast</h2>While much of the state of Texas has been under an active pattern recently, additional chances for heavy rainfall will arrive through the end of the week as stronger, upper-level energy continues to flow over the region.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-29 114511-1777484719330.png">Because the front never clears the Gulf Coast, the steady stream of warm, moist air arriving from the South doesn't shut off. As energetic winds overhead remain in place, plenty of lift will support the daily formation of thunderstorms. These thunderstorms will have plenty of moisture to work with and could have extremely high rainfall rates.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/0429-1777473450692.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>With the potential combination of training storms and heavy rainfall rates, the flooding concern is rising. This is especially true across Texas, as grounds are already very saturated from previous storms. The Weather Prediction Center has highlighted areas on both Thursday and Friday with a Slight Risk Excessive Rainfall Outlook. Thursday's risk highlights the Texas Hill Country eastward to the I-35 corridor. On Friday, the flooding threat shifts east, encompassing much of East Texas and northern Louisiana.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/04291-1777473506001.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>There are many areas, especially across the southeast, that desperately need more rainfall.<h2><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-28 133607-1777404986134.png">Severe Threat</h2>There are isolated risks for severe weather starting on Thursday.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-29 114621-1777484795870.png">By Friday, isolated severe storms will be possible across portions of Texas and Florida.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-29 114629-1777484803437.png">

Jackie Brown

Late Week Heavy Rain & Storms for Texas

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WeatherNation Meteorologists

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<h1>MONDAY</h1>Severe storms erupted across the Midwest on Monday, causing damage to homes and other structures. Reports of damaging winds, large hail, and even a few tornadoes came in throughout Monday. Some of those tornadoes touched down after dark, creating truly nightmare-like scenes captured on video in Illinois.<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2048955551267328360" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2048955551267328360"></div><div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2048945300266537201" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2048945300266537201"></div>Storms really started to spark up into the early evening. Severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings were firing off into the nighttime hours across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/2026-04-28 04-20-09-1777371667954.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>We picked up some pretty large hailstones out of Missouri after this system pulled through. Some reports showed hailstones reaching the size of softballs!<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-28 042253-1777371968460.png">The gustiest winds reported were actually out of Illinois and Indiana. Looking back at the radar from Monday night, it's no surprise, being that we got that defined bow echo.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-28 042302-1777372048925.png">Flooding was also a major issue across places like Kansas City. With multiple heavy rounds of rainfall, we even broke several records across major cities in the Midwest. We always tell folks to never sleep on that flooding threat!<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-28 042928-1777372180763.png">Why wasn't there more high-end tornadoes? A lot of research will go into the exact whys, but one thing that jumped out at us was the cap. Temperatures above the area where storms were attempting to form were slightly warmer than expected. That snuffed out many storms before they could achieve strong to violent status Monday evening.<h1><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-28 115059-1777398675567.png">TUESDAY</h1>On Tuesday, our front dropped into the southern plains, providing a focus for more thunderstorms. Supercells approached the Dallas-Fort Worth metro, nearing rush hour. Large hail fell with the most intense storms, and a few tornadoes were reported. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-29 114240-1777484739534.png">Earlier in the day, storms north of the boundary produced more massive hail in southwest Missouri, smashing multiple windows<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-29 114259-1777484807523.png">

Kevin Schneider

A Look Back at Moderate Risks This Week

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WEST - Another upper-level low is set to move through the western United States to bring in a chance for rainshowers and snow for the higher elevations.Rain and high-elevation snow chances will ramp up through Wednesday, which could bring back renewed slick roadways on some mountain passes. Most of our winter weather alerts have ended for the Rockies today as we wait for our next round.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/0427 west-1777330956598.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><h3><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-27 124601-1777315581223.png">What's Next for the West?</h3>Another upper level low pressure system is set to move in from the Pacific onshore by about midweek, increasing rain chances for the Four Corners.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/04-27 rfsw set up-1777315770759.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>On Wednesday, rain chances will increase across the Four Corners, but by Thursday, widespread rainshowers and heavy high elevation snow will take over Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/04-27 rsw we to fri-1777315803787.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>In the long term, the Weather Prediction Center keeps the 4-Corners region in the green with confidence in above-average precipitation heading into May.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-27 035703-1777283836422.png">

West Staying Active this Week

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Rounds of rain are set to return to the Southeast through the end of April, offering some much-needed moisture to a region that has been dealing with unusually dry conditions. While several systems are expected to bring periods of steady rain and thunderstorms, the rainfall will likely fall short of fully reversing the ongoing drought. Many areas across the region have recorded well below-average precipitation in recent weeks, leaving soils parched and waterways running low.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-25 080049-1777125658800.png">Even with pockets of heavier rain, totals will be inconsistent, meaning not all drought-stricken locations will benefit equally. Some communities could see meaningful improvement, but others may miss out on the heaviest downpours altogether. This uneven distribution limits the overall impact and slows any long-term recovery.&nbsp;The heaviest of the rainfall over the next few days looks to be across Mississippi and Alabama. However, it might not get all of us - the latest models are avoiding northern Florida/southern Georgia, where we desperately need it.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-27 171323-1777331612615.png">The continued dryness has also heightened wildfire concerns across parts of the Southeast. There are still several fires burning between Georgia and Florida that are spreading smoke across the Southeast. If you have upper respiratory issues, limit the time spent outdoors. The air quality near these fires could be significantly impacted.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-27 035139-1777283545897.png">More details on your Eastern Regional Forecast can be found :10 past the hour on WeatherNation.

A Look Back at Moderate Risks This Week

West Staying Active this Week

Southeast Rain Brings Relief, But Drought and Wildfire Threats Persist

Cut-off Low Increases Rain and Snow Chances Out West

Late Week Heavy Rain & Storms for Texas

A Look Back at Moderate Risks This Week

West Staying Active this Week

Southeast Rain Brings Relief, But Drought and Wildfire Threats Persist

Cut-off Low Increases Rain and Snow Chances Out West

Late Week Heavy Rain & Storms for Texas

A Look Back at Moderate Risks This Week

West Staying Active this Week

Southeast Rain Brings Relief, But Drought and Wildfire Threats Persist