Caitlin Connell

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Even though we just dealt with a powerful low-pressure system and tornado outbreak this past weekend, it's the middle of storm season and the next low is on our doorstep. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has issued a SLIGHT (level 2 out of 5) and ENHANCED (level 3 out of 5) risk for Tuesday. The enhanced risk reaches from Des Moines, IA through Kansas City, MO. All forms of severe weather are on the table.Related article: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/flood-threat-continues-in-the-plains">Flood Threat Continues in the Plains</a><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot 2024-04-30 040801-1714471698454.png">A few tornadoes, pockets of large hail, and strong winds all pose a threat on Tuesday. We pose the risk of significantly large hailstones over 2" in diameter, and wind gusts 75+ mph. Both of these specific risks reach into the Northern Great Plains and farther south into the Central Plains.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot 2024-04-30 042914-1714473064443.png">Here's a look at the timing of Tuesday's storms. Isolated storms fire off around the peak heating hours of the day with complex storms clustering together into the evening hours as the frontal system moves east. The storm threat lasts well into the overnight hours. Please do not let severe weather fatigue get the best of you. Don't let your guard down and be prepared for more strong storms.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-30 04-32-02-1714473146560.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>The severe weather risk continues on Wednesday for central Kansas and much of the southern Plains. Another ENHANCED risk has been issued. Highlighting the confidence the SPC has in this forecast.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/spc wed-1714473561184.png">Storms on Wednesday look to fire off of the same frontal boundary and by the afternoon hours, nearly the same places in the Plains from Tuesday may be more prone to discrete supercells that could pose significant severe weather hazards.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-30 04-47-29-1714474073256.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>There is <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/flood-threat-continues-in-the-plains">another heavy rain and flooding risk</a> associated with this next low-pressure system. Widespread rain totals for most of the Heartland could add up to another 2-4+". While this is needed rain, especially for the Midwest and central Plains as the drought has been increasing, too much rain will cause runoff and flooding concerns.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot 2024-04-30 044300-1714473958798.png">Check back in with WeatherNation for more updates on this next system.

Another Round of Strong Storms Targets The Heartland

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Flooding has become a very serious component of our nearly week-long severe weather threat that's still ongoing. Some places in Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma have seen well over 9" of rain in the past few days, contributing to the elevated concern for flood threats.Related article: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/another-round-of-strong-storms-targets-the-heartland">Another Round of Strong Storms Targets The Heartland</a><div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="1784900436136497638" src="https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/1784900436136497638"></div>The next three days bring a flood risk, including a risk for flash flooding, in much of the Central U.S. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday all have a marginal and slight risk for flooding. Tuesday's slight risk is a relatively smaller bullseye in eastern Kansas, but Wednesday and Thursday will be much broader from the Northern Great Plains into the Western Gulf. <video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-30 05-25-52-1714476417344.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>The ground is already highly saturated in many states. We can't stress enough just how important it is to adhere to any flood alerts that may be issued in the upcoming days. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/rain totals-1714478022969.png">One silver lining to this forecast is that much of the Central Plains is dealing with drought conditions. The data below is from April 23, 2024. We'll get another update on this chart on Thursday this week. All of this rainfall will no doubt help alleviate some of the drought concerns, but remember that too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/drought-1714478228596.png">

Flood Threat Continues in the Plains

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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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UPDATE: The National Weather Service out of Norman, Oklahoma has upgraded the rating of the Marietta tornado to EF-4 with estimated peak winds of 165-170 mph, a path length of 27 miles, and a path width of 900 yards. Unfortunately, this tornado brought at least one fatality to Love County. This tornado developed southwest of Marietta and moved north-northeast over I-25 before moving into Marietta towards Lake Murray and Dickson.<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="1785021848498876600" src="https://twitter.com/NWSNorman/status/1785021848498876600"></div>Here's a look at the destruction our field corresponded Brandon Clement observed upon daylight on Sunday.<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="1784689042388668902" src="https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/1784689042388668902"></div>The town of Sulphur, OK also took a direct hit from a destructive tornado on Saturday night, with a rating of at least EF3. According to the NWS, estimated peak winds were 160-165 mph, path length was 7.5 miles, and width was 440 yards. Our Field Correspondent, Brandon Clement, took this video earlier in the day:Related articles: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/tornadoes-touch-down-in-nebraska-and-iowa-on-friday">Destructive Tornadoes Tear Through Plains Friday</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/Severe%20Weather%20Threat%20Monday%20From%20Texas%20to%20the%20Lower%20Mississippi%20Valley">Severe Weather Threat Makes it to the Gulf Coast</a><div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="1784590897423765833" src="https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/1784590897423765833"></div>Unlike Friday, Saturday brought in more than double the amount of hail reports compared to tornado reports. The red dots below are all reports of tornadoes, not yet confirmed, but reports.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/lsr-1714302865222.png">According to the National Weather Service, at least 25 tornadoes have been confirmed from this weekend.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/25-1714418757244.png">The hail was large and damaging, along with the strong wind gusts and the confirmed tornadoes that touched down. About teacup-sized hail fell in Fox, OK on Saturday, and we're sure that hailstones that large will easily cause damage.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot 2024-04-28 052810-1714303700198.png">This is a terrifying view of a tornado touching down in the rural area of Kendall, KS. You can easily see the wide base of it on the ground along with much of the dust and debris that was picked up.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/VO_042724_RNC_NEAR KENDALL, KS_SHORTER VERSION OF TORNADO JOSH INTERCEPTED AND DEBRIS FLYING AT THE END_EMAIL_JOSH HEYNEN_DW_E042724-1714303991447.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>

Marietta, OK Tornado Upgraded to EF-4

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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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High pressure along the East Coast has helped to bump temperatures into the 70's and 80's on Monday afternoon. Multiple records have been broken across the region (above). Even a long-standing record from 1899 was tied in Cleveland, OH (below).<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot 2024-04-29 161054-1714428685448.png">There will be less potential to break records on Tuesday, but a couple of records are possible. High temperatures will yet again be warm. For some, this means 10 - 15° above average.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot 2024-04-29 161339-1714428828312.png">More on your Eastern Regional Forecast can be found:10 past the hour on WeatherNation.

Record Highs Fell in the Northeast

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Kevin Schneider

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The strong low-pressure system that spurred storms on the plains will push from the Midwest and into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Tuesday.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/forecast-1714396678311.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>Most of the rainfall will be scattered throughout the day, with a slight chance of seeing a few storms mix into the bunch. It will be worth carrying around an umbrella on Tuesday because some of these showers can bring downpours.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/forecast-1714479537336.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>Forecast accumulation indicates the chance of seeing up to 3" of rain in localized spots of the Northeast. This warranted a low-level tier of a flood threat from in the Northeast on Monday (see top of page).<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Tuesday rain totals-1714476864594.jpg">

Moisture Moves Into the Northeast

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Originally born in Spokane, Washington,  Jackie's Dad was in the Air Force which led her to a life of travel. She has lived in Wichita, Okinawa, Japan, Baltimore, New Jersey, Indiana and South Carolina.  After graduating from Kadena High School, in Okinawa Japan, she got a full basketball scholarship to Coppin State College. On the court she was a 4-year starter and reached over 1000 points in her basketball career. She was also named Athlete of the Year for the whole university in 2002. Off the court, she earned a degree in Broadcast Production/English.

After college, she landed a job as a radio personality. Jackie went on to have a successful career for 12 years working at KXLY broadcast center. While on the radio, she decided to change career. Jackie went back to school, graduating from the Mississippi State Meteorology Broadcast Program. From snow, to tornadoes, to hurricanes, she has had experience forecasting all these events.

Jackie Brown

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The severe threat has lessened this evening and there is now a GENERAL risk for thunderstorms for the overnight hours and a low threat for severe due to the loss of daytime heating. An isolated storm will be possible, but there will be limited precipitation through the overnight hour for Texas and Louisiana.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/gggg-1714440061662.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><h2>Flood Threat</h2>In addition to the severe weather, there is an ongoing flood threat. Many places in the Central and Southern Plains have already seen over 9" of rain in the past few days. This means the ground is already highly saturated in some spots, making it more likely to flood. The Weather Prediction Center has maintained a MARGINAL to SLIGHT risk for flash flooding through Tuesday morning in these areas.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/04-29 wpc through tonight-1714419623445.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/04-29 central-1714444898379.png">

A Few Storms Lingering Along The Gulf

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WeatherNation Meteorologists

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<h2>North Side - Nebraska &amp; Iowa</h2>Several teams of meteorologists and storm damage experts are actively investigating and surveying damage from Friday across the I-80 corridor. According to the National Weather Service of Omaha, at least 5 EF-3 tornadoes have been preliminarily confirmed.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot 2024-04-27 091236-1714230904887.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/04-29 nws omaha-1714445003827.png">It all started when a tornado touched down in Lincoln, NE, just before 3 PM central time on Friday. This storm was tornado-warned for more than 50 miles as it tore through suburbs of the Omaha metro and eventually moved across the Missouri River and into Iowa.<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="1783955995875565622" src="https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/1783955995875565622"></div>This tornado struck Waverly, NE, a suburb on the NE side of Lincoln, where it derailed a train. It also moved through Elkhorn, NE which sits on the west side of the city of Omaha.<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="1784243608318595371" src="https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/1784243608318595371"></div>There was a "tornado emergency" issued for the northern suburbs of Omaha, NE, at around 3:45 PM CT Friday - this is the highest level of tornado warning the National Weather Service can issue and signals that there is a confirmed tornado on the ground and an extremely dangerous situation unfolding. A traffic camera in the Omaha area caught the tornado. Our field crews observed high-tension power lines snapped in Elkhorn, NE, outside of Omaha after the tornado moved through. Another tornado warning was issued for the city of Omaha, including downtown and damage was confirmed in the region.<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="1783961145100980348" src="https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/1783961145100980348"></div>Severe weather will be possible in this area once again Saturday and Sunday. This weekend could feature more significant tornadoes farther south too, which you can learn more about here in our other story: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/weekend-forecast-more-severe-weather-in-the-plains">Weekend Severe Threat</a>More active <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/weekend-forecast-more-severe-weather-in-the-plains">weather is imminent on Saturday! </a>Please stay weather-aware for the rest of the weekend and take all weather alerts seriously!

Tornadoes Tear Through the Heartland Friday

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A cold front continues to drop temperatures across the country's eastern half, prompting frost and freeze alerts through Monday; creating more hazardous cold for areas that have started their growing season. While you may have had colder temperatures this winter, spring blossoms, and blooms have begun in these areas, and locations under these alerts could be prone to vegetation damage.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/MONDAYYYYYYY AM-1713746984092.png">Typically the last freeze of the season is mid-April for areas in the central Plains, Texas Panhandle, and Appalachia. Do not be surprised if there are a few more cold nights ahead in the Plains before we hit our summer stride.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/last freeze-1713364391394.jpg">

Cold April Nights - Frost & Freeze Alerts Issued

Another Round of Strong Storms Targets The Heartland

Even though we just dealt with a powerful low

Flood Threat Continues in the Plains

Flooding has become a very serious component

Marietta, OK Tornado Upgraded to EF-4

UPDATE: The National Weather Service out of N

Record Highs Fell in the Northeast

High pressure along the East Coast has helped

Moisture Moves Into the Northeast

The strong low-pressure system that spurred s

A Few Storms Lingering Along The Gulf

The severe threat has lessened this evening a

Tornadoes Tear Through the Heartland Friday

North Side - Nebraska & IowaSeveral teams

Cold April Nights - Frost & Freeze Alerts Issued

Another Round of Strong Storms Targets The Heartland

Even though we just dealt with a powerful low

Flood Threat Continues in the Plains

Flooding has become a very serious component

Marietta, OK Tornado Upgraded to EF-4

UPDATE: The National Weather Service out of N

Record Highs Fell in the Northeast

High pressure along the East Coast has helped

Moisture Moves Into the Northeast

The strong low-pressure system that spurred s

A Few Storms Lingering Along The Gulf

The severe threat has lessened this evening a

Tornadoes Tear Through the Heartland Friday

North Side - Nebraska &amp; IowaSeveral teams

North Side - Nebraska & IowaSeveral teams