WeatherNation Meteorologists

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Top Image Credit: National Parks Service<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="false" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8V6xqwukzO0" start="0"></iframe></div>Spring is fast approaching, and so are the blooms of flowers all across North America. This includes the famous cherry tree bloom around the National Mall in Washington, D.C.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-06 080027-1772810872599.png">On Thursday, March 5th, the National Park Service announced its projected peak cherry blossom date for 2026. The peak is expected around late March into early April (between the 31st and 2nd). Still, the forecast for the peak is generally difficult to make beyond ten days, as blossoms will be impacted by weather conditions. Check back in for updates!<h2>What is "peak bloom"?</h2>The peak bloom date is defined as the day when 70% of the Yoshino Cherry blossoms are open, one of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/cherryblossom/types-of-trees.htm">many types of cherry trees</a> in the area. Peak bloom usually lasts for several days, with the blooms taking <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/cherryblossom/bloom-watch.htm">about two to three weeks to reach peak</a> after the appearance of green buds. As buds begin to appear, the forecast peak date will be updated by National Park Service horticulturists.<h2>Past Blooms</h2><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-06 080035-1772811048593.png"> Due to variable weather conditions, peak bloom has occurred as early as March 15th (1990) and as late as April 18th (1958).Visiting the blossoming cherry trees has become a favorite springtime tradition for Americans and tourists alike, dating back to 1912 when Japan gifted the U.S. about 3,000 cherry trees. The cherry trees in Japan have been putting on a show for thousands of years, with the dates of blooms being <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/date-of-the-peak-cherry-tree-blossom-in-kyoto">recorded all the way back to the 9th century</a>. The dates for this year's peak blooms in Japan are expected from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.japan-guide.com/sakura/">late March through late April</a> from north to south across the nation.

Tracey Anthony

Peak Cherry Blossom Forecast Released for 2026

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You may have heard the news but a large heatwave is coming to the West. Temperatures will be in the 90s and 100s at times during the next seven days. Daily and all time March records could fall too! Thursday, a few records fell but the intense heat really cranks up next week.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/1-1773369042210.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/ahs-1773322054993.png">Heat Advisories are in effect through Friday across portions of Southern California. There is a high risk of heat illness for most of the population on Friday as temperatures peak 20-30 degrees above normal.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/1-1773356386409.png">Los Angeles has a shockingly warm week ahead with numerous days expected to be in the 80s and 90s.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/1-1773368112045.png">Take heat related illnesses seriously and find ways to stay cool if you need to spend long periods of time outside or without air conditioning.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/1-1773356460203.png">More details can be found :50 past the hour in your Western Regional Forecast.

Record-Breaking Heat Builds Out West

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Severe storms continued into this morning, with dozens of overnight tornado warnings as the line moved east.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-12 174429-1773359087251.png">Things are finally quieting down from this multi-day severe weather outbreak, but not before 200+ severe wind reports, 150+ hail reports, and 30+ tornado <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/260310_rpts.html">reports to the Storm Prediction Center</a>.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-12 174440-1773359116917.png">Tuesday, March 10, will go down as record-breaking for at least one state in the Midwest. After the Storm Prediction Center upgraded parts of Illinois and Indiana to a Moderate (Level 4/5) Risk, destructive severe storms ripped through the heart of the country. A large supercell on the ground for up to 45 minutes produced a large and dangerous tornado in the town of Kankakee, IL. The National Weather Service in Chicago has issued preliminary damage assessments rating this tornado as an EF-3 with max winds of 150mph. Our field crews were on the ground to capture it as it happened and to speak with the families impacted.<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2031867768505598421" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2031867768505598421"></div>First responders worked tirelessly, picking up debris and searching for survivors in the aftermath. Loads of footage came out of this tornado, much of which was heartbreaking to see.<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2031730530631434633" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2031730530631434633?s=20"></div><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-12 073153-1773322362766.png">A highly unstable atmosphere led to strong updrafts, resulting in large hail during severe storms. Hailstones the size of softballs and larger were reported in Texas and Illinois.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-11 082436-1773239081623.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/AAA_WEB5-1773228556681.png">A hailstone from the Kankakee, IL supercell looks likely to be a state record, and could challenge national records for biggest hail. The photo posted by a Kankakee resident looks to be upwards of 7-8 inches in diameter! The stone will have to be examined to determine if it breaks the record set by hail from Vivian, South Dakota, in 2010 that measured 8 inches.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-11 115507-1773251922303.png"><div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2031525994843214069" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2031525994843214069"></div>

Jesse Kelley

Destructive Tornadoes, Hail From Multi-Day Severe Outbreak

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Patrick Crawford has always been a huge weather buff! He grew up in Plano, Texas, and it was there that he experienced what Mother Nature was capable of doing. He would always turn on the television to see what local meteorologists were saying about the weather. That's when he realized he wanted to be a meteorologist.

Patrick graduated from Northern Illinois University (’04) with a degree in Meteorology and a double minor in Mathematics and Geography. Broadcast Meteorology has been great to him and he has been able to work in television markets all across the country. Some of his stops have included New Orleans, Green Bay and even Yuma, Arizona. He is so excited to be part of the WeatherNation team.

He has been awarded the prestigious CBM (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) weather seal from the American Meteorological Society.

Feel free to catch up with Patrick Crawford on his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MeteorologistPC/">Facebook</a> and on <a href="https://twitter.com/MeteorologistPC">Twitter</a> pages.

Patrick Crawford

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A strong ridge of high pressure building over the Western U.S. will bring warm, dry, and windy weather conditions. This will set up a strong fire weather risk for the next few days. Outdoor activities that could spark or ignite should be avoided over the next few days. Check out the strong wind gusts below as several locations recorded wind gusts over 100 mph!<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/1-1773356604431.png"><h1>Fire Weather Alerts</h1><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/1-1773367784006.png"><h1>FIRE OUTLOOK</h1><h3>THURSDAY</h3>The fire weather outlook for Thursday shows strong intensity. Critical outlooks have been issued for parts of Nebraska and Colorado. Also, down to New Mexico and Texas, we could see critical fire conditions.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/1-1773282977324.png"><h3>Friday</h3>Winds will relax a tad bit as elevated fire threat will be likely. However, critical fire threats return this weekend as the winds pick up again.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/1-1773356717056.png">It is always important to know some tips on how to prevent fires, so here are some tips.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/pic4-1773244322444.png">

Dave Holder

Fire Weather Risk for the Plains

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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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On the heels of an active opening week to Meteorological Spring, another threat of severe weather will be in the cards yet again for Wednesday. With plenty of unstable air to tap into, as this system chugs East, the threat for severe weather persists. The Storm Prediction center has issued a SLIGHT (level 2 out of 5) risk for severe weather from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast.Hail is another big concern. More widespread, 1" in diameter hail is possible, but many locations could also encounter 2" in diameter hailstones Tuesday. Some portions of Texas and Illinois have already seen hailstones over 3.5", which is in between the size of a softball and teacup.RELATED ARTICLE: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/destructive-tornadoes-hail-rip-through-central-us">Destructive Tornadoes, Hail Rip Through Central U.S.</a>A SLIGHT (level 2 out of 5) risk remains in place following the cold front through tonight.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/1-1773282080141.png">During the overnight, a tornado risk remains in place especially across the Gulf Coast. Have a few ways to receive alerts to wake you up if warnings are issued.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/1-1773282254705.png">The threat for severe weather continues Thursday morning as the squall line moves through the Carolinas and Georgia. The biggest threat will be damaging winds.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/1-1773282360616.png"><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/New Baron Video 3-1773282503903.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>Tune in to WeatherNation live for the very latest.

Significant Severe Weather Threatens Again Wednesday

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Kevin Schneider

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The relentless weather is going to continue in the heartland this week. However, instead of severe storms, a few fast-moving systems look to stir up trouble late this week. We're going to the other end of the spectrum, with snow and winds returning. Winter alerts are now issued for parts of the Canadian border from North Dakota to the UP of Michigan.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/1-1773282797509.png"><h1>THURSDAY-FRIDAY</h1>A potent shortwave trough will dive south out of Canada fairly quickly on Thursday. That looks to fire up a windy area of low pressure, cutting into the Great Lakes by Friday. Winds will pick up throughout the day on Thursday, with some gusts approaching 70 mph.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-11 092745-1773242898649.png">Winds plus snow is not a fun recipe to drive in. Expect blowing snow leading to whiteout conditions, possibly teetering on blizzard conditions.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/2026-03-11 09-32-15-1773243168701.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><h1>THIS WEEKEND</h1>Another day, another system. This one follows in the footsteps of the previous one. That will funnel EVEN MORE cold air southward.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-11 093339-1773243234730.png">Even more snow and winds will greet us getting into the weekend. By the time Monday rolls around, many locations could be looking at another few inches of snow on the ground!<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/2026-03-11 09-35-11-1773243337525.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>

Rob Bradley

Old Man Winter Roars in This Week

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Alana Cameron was born and raised in Canada in the city of Mississauga, just outside of Toronto. Alana is the oldest of 4 siblings, all close in age, and grew up playing outside with them in all types of weather. After graduating high school, Alana moved to study at the University of British Columbia in Kelowna for a year before transferring to Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia where she completed a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Atmospheric Science. Upon completion, Alana moved back to Toronto where she completed a post-grad degree in Meteorology at York University. After her post-grad, she went on to complete another post-grad in Broadcast Journalism - TV News at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. During her final year of studies she had the privilege of interning with the best in the business in Canada at The Weather Network. Once she finished her internship, she got the call from small-town Denison, Texas where she accepted a job as an on-air meteorologist at KTEN-TV, right in tornado alley, covering severe weather from Sherman/Denison (North Texas) to Ada (Southern Oklahoma). After the most active tornado season Oklahoma had seen in May 2019 (105 tornadoes!) Alana is excited to join WeatherNation to cover weather all across the nation. If you're interested in following her on social media she can be found @alanacameronwx!

Alana Cameron

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NORTHWEST - Blizzard warnings have been issued for the mountains of the Pacific Northwest for today and tomorrow. The reason? A ridge of high pressure over the Pacific Ocean is funneling in an atmospheric river of moisture into the Pacific Northwest through tonight and tomorrow. High moisture content will lead to heavy rain and snow for these areas and winds will be very high too.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/2026-03-11 05-42-53-1773229398869.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>Blizzard warnings are issued when winds are greater than 35 mph, visibility less than 1/4 of a mile, and lasting for 3 hours. Additional winter weather alerts have been added for the Pacific Northwest and the Rockies.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/web1'-1773229475628.png">In addition to these winter weather alerts, wind alerts have been issued for the northwest for gusts up to 50-60 mph with locally higher gusts.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Web2-1773229526282.png">Let's time this out, as a warm front pushes through, moisture will pick up in the Pacific northwest saturating the soils and lashing with winds. The heaviest of the precipitation picks up on Wednesday before the frontal boundary continues to push inland into Thursday and Friday.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/2026-03-11 05-45-53-1773229585652.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>Moisture content with this is extremely high, which will lead to very high snowfall totals.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-10 144721-1773175657342.png">Some of the heaviest rain is expected across portions of Oregon and southern Washington. Some totals through the end of the week will surpass 6-10 inches of rain.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-10 144725-1773175661483.png">For more information about this, be sure to join us at :50 past the hour during your west regional forecast.

Blizzard Warnings Issued for the Northwest

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Areas of the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley have the potential to see severe thunderstorms today as a slight risk has been posted by the Storm Prediction Center. Large hail greater than the size of a quarter and wind gusts higher than 60 mph are the biggest threats. Marginal severe weather risks have been posted in Kansas and the Northwest.

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A low pressure center and cold front will be the focus for severe thunderstorm development into tonight. Storms will develop in Michigan and Illinois this afternoon, and then push into Indiana and Ohio. Intensity will likely weaken overnight.

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For Thursday and Friday, a slightly stronger low pressure center will move into the Plains. Humidity levels will be increasing and energy will be in place.

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There is a slight risk for severe thunderstorms for the central Plains Thursday and Friday. Areas of Nebraska may see severe thunderstorms Thursday, sliding into Kansas and Iowa Friday.

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For WeatherNation: Meteorologist Mace Michaels

A Look at the Severe Weather Threat for the Rest of the Week

Peak Cherry Blossom Forecast Released for 2026

Top Image Credit: National Parks ServiceSprin

Record-Breaking Heat Builds Out West

You may have heard the news but a large heatw

Destructive Tornadoes, Hail From Multi-Day Severe Outbreak

Severe storms continued into this morning, wi

Fire Weather Risk for the Plains

A strong ridge of high pressure building over

Significant Severe Weather Threatens Again Wednesday

On the heels of an active opening week to Met

Old Man Winter Roars in This Week

The relentless weather is going to continue i

Blizzard Warnings Issued for the Northwest

NORTHWEST - Blizzard warnings have been issue