WeatherNation Meteorologists

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<p>It has been a busy start to the week, as severe weather ripped through the Great Plains causing several tornadoes. As that system exits, there is the threat for more severe weather on Thursday and Friday.</p><h2>Thursday</h2><p>The severe potential encompasses a large area of <strong>slight risk</strong> (level 2 out of 5) issued in the Southern Plains and into the Midwest and an <strong>enhanced risk</strong> (level 3 out of 5) in the middle Mississippi Valley. There will be two areas of focus, one in the Midwest leftover from Wednesday's storms and additional storm development in the heat of the day through the Deep South and southern Plains.</p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-17 11-41-00-1713375772352.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><p>The Enhanced Risk area nearest the center of the low-pressure system is where there is an elevated tornado threat. The tornado threat also includes Central portions of Texas.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot 2024-04-18 064705-1713444458609.png">There is a possibility to also have significant size hail, hail 2" in diameter or greater, in Central Texas. However, the main hazards are damaging wind and large hail. Egg-size hail is possible through parts of central Texas.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot 2024-04-18 064641-1713444443446.png"></p><h2>Friday</h2><p>As all of this energy and moisture move along the cold front into the Southeast Friday. A <strong>marginal threat</strong> (level 1 out of 5) of severe weather is sprawled across the southeast from central Alabama into the Carolinas with damaging winds the main threat.</p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-17 13-56-09-1713383791236.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><p>Stay with WeatherNation for all of your severe weather needs.</p>

Lucy Bergemann

Multiday Severe Threat From Plains to the Carolinas

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<div>Lucy is originally from the Boston area but has spent the last four years forecasting and living in Colorado! She stayed in the northeast for her education, graduating Summa Cum Laude from SUNY Oswego with a B.S. in Meteorology. Just a few days after graduation, she made the cross country move to Colorado Springs, CO to begin her career at KKTV, the CBS affiliate. Lucy has covered historic blizzards, tornadoes, windstorms, the largest wildfires in Colorado state history and dust storms ... they truly "get it all" in Colorado! Lucy is excited to forecast on a national level and continue her passion of explaining the science behind the weather!</div>
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<p>Summer-like temperatures are expected across the Southeast as a high-pressure system dominates in the Gulf of Mexico. The Tennessee Valley to Florida could break record-high temperatures through the weekend with temperatures soaring into the 80s and close to 90 - about 10-15° average for most cities. On Wednesday, the city of Ruskin Florida broke a record high temperature, reaching 90°. The previous record was 89° in 2013.</p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-18 07-16-45-1713446276119.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><p><span style="color: rgb(14, 16, 26)">Additional record-high temperatures could fall through the weekend across Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. Each pink dot represents a city that could tie or beat a record high.</span></p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/04-17_pot record highzsx-1713400876157.png">A cool-down arrives Saturday for Mississippi and North Alabama, and further into Georgia, Alabama, and Florida by the second half of the weekend as a cold front producing showers and storms moves in. Florida will see temps drop back towards average Sunday into Monday. </p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/3 day temps-1713446410573.jpg"></p>

Record Heat Along the Gulf Coast Today

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<p>We're looking at a wet end of the week for the Lone Star State with 3-4" possible. Parts of West Texas suffering from extreme and severe drought conditions could use the rain. Rain can offset the dry conditions and help alleviate the fire concerns that crop up any time the wind does.</p><p>Related Article - <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/looking-ahead-thursdays-severe-threat"><strong><em><u>Severe Potential on Thursday in Texas, Southern Plains</u></em></strong></a></p><p>An upper-level trough will enter the picture late Friday into Saturday. At the surface, a stationary boundary will be in place to help focus that energy into showers and thunderstorms. The wet weather will develop late Friday and last throughout Saturday - so have some indoor backup weekend plans ready.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/upper trough weekend-1713363908545.png">A few showers form on Friday during the day but the heaviest rain develops overnight into Saturday along the Red River Valley. We will see the steady rain continue along and north of I-20 throughout the day on Saturday before our frontal boundary gets a shove east and brings rainfall into the Deep South on Sunday and Monday. We expect most of these storms to be sub-severe so we aren't worried about large hail or damaging winds, thankfully.</p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-18 07-18-43-1713446543112.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><p>All of the heavy rain will lead to a threat of flash flooding on both Friday and Saturday. The Weather Prediction Center [WPC] has issued a slight risk (level 2 out of 4) for the heavy rainfall threat across much of Texas on Saturday. </p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/deep south rain-1713446857197.jpg">Cloud cover and rain will aid our temperatures in staying cool - highs in Dallas will be about 15° below normal, with a similar fate for Little Rock and Houston.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/south temps-1713446857195.jpg">  </p>

Wet and Cool Weekend in the Deep South

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Kevin Schneider

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<p>It’s the soundtrack to the summer. Nature’s noisemakers are set to return in a <em>big</em> way this year as not one, but <em>two</em> sets of periodical cicadas will emerge in the Midwest and Southeast. It is the first time these two specific broods have surfaced <em>together</em> since 1803! This is the first time since 2015 that a 13 year cycle brood emerges at the same year as a 17 year brood.</p><div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="false" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o5jJPrP5rfE" start="0"></iframe></div><p></p><p>The southern brood emerges every 13 years and is known as the <strong>Brood XIX, </strong>the largest brood in the U.S.. The Northern Illinois brood has a period of 17 years, making these two broods overlap uncommon. They will only overlap in central Illinois, where is expected to be the noisest!</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Closer look at Illinois locations overlap.mp4_snapshot_00.01.232-1713196589008.jpg"></p><blockquote><p>Katie Dana, a researcher with the Illinois Natural History Survey who studies the cicadas says, “We have broods emerging across the U.S. almost every year, but we don’t often have broods emerging at the same time. Just like how birds have different songs, cicadas have different songs...we have over 3,000 different species of cicadas so we have so many different songs.”</p></blockquote><p>Periodical Cicadas are large, loud insects with bright red eyes. They live underground for years. Once the cicadas take to the skies, they will be in the air for about 3-4 weeks, mating before laying eggs and reburying themselves for another 13 or 17 years.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Slow zoom east coast brood locations.mp4_snapshot_00.06.391-1713196589005.jpg">Depending on where you live, the double brood emergence could start as soon as April but will happen whenever the ground temperatures reach 64°. According to Katie, “It’s those warm soils that push them out of the ground, but they’re also looking for some moisture. If you have really dry soil, it’s going to make it hard for them to dig out.” Given that we've had some of our warmest winters on record in the Midwest we are looking at the opportunity for earlier emergence of the broods.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Warmest Winter on Record.mp4_snapshot_00.05.538-1713196589007.jpg">If you’re less than thrilled about these beaty-eyed bugs, focus on the positives. They provide extra nutrition for birds and animals and spark a reset for oak trees allowing them to produce more acorns a few years after they emerge. If that’s not enough to get you through... the next time these two broods will be out at the same time won't be for another 221 years, which will give you plenty of time to learn to appreciate the cicada screams.</p>

Double Trouble: Cicadas Take to the Skies this Spring

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<p>Severe storms moved across the Midwest Tuesday afternoon, leading to several reports of hail and tornadoes. The Storm Prediction reported seventeen tornadoes that ripped through 4 states, including Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska. Many people were affected by the numerous destructive tornadoes and damage. WeatherNation’s Field Meteorologist, Brett Adair, was on scene for a tornado outside of Salem, IA, and observed this damage nearby in New London.&nbsp;<span style="color: rgb(14, 16, 26)">&nbsp;</span></p><div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="1780370587728376126" src="https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/1780370587728376126"></div><p>The National Weather Service has issued a preliminary rating for this tornado in New London, Iowa of EF-2. Maximum observed winds reached 130 mph with this storm damaging the region. Here's a look at the additional tornadoes that were observed across the Plains from Tuesday.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot 2024-04-17 190447-1713402308810.png">As the cold front moves east, so does the severe weather threat. Throughout the day on Wednesday across Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania severe weather was reported. We had hail measuring up to 1.50" in diameter in Ohio, and winds gusting over 60 mph too.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/04-17_lsrs-1713401931942.png"></p><div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="1780755624394985795" src="https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/1780755624394985795"></div><p>Our next severe weather threat for these areas could move back in by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/looking-ahead-thursdays-severe-threat"><strong>Thursday and Friday.</strong></a></p>

Ef-2 Tornadoes Touch Down in Kansas, Iowa

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<p>If you have been enjoying the Spring warmth in the central U.S., unfortunately, we have bad news for you headed into the weekend. Our latest push of upper-level energy will draw in slightly cooler air for the northern and central Plains following a surface cold front and linger into the weekend. The cooler air also impacts the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/wet-weekend-in-the-lone-star-state"><strong><em><u>southern Plains</u></em></strong></a>, with showers and storms too.  </p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-17 08-24-12-1713364135396.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><p>The cold air will be most notable during the morning hours in the High Plains when lows drop into the mid and lower 30s across the board. This will only be about 10° below average for many, but given the recent warmth, it will feel colder.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/lows-1713446929451.jpg">Typically the last freeze of the season is mid-April for areas in the central Plains, Texas Panhandle and Appalachia. Don't be surprised if there are a few more cold nights ahead in the Plains before we hit our summer stride.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/last freeze-1713364391394.jpg">High temperatures will be cool too, especially on Friday and Saturday when we only manage the 40s and 50s, which again isn't brutally cold for this time of year, but a change of pace from what we've had lately.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/sat highs-1713446874588.jpg"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/fri-1713446874586.jpg"></p>

Blast of Cold Air Arrives in the Central U.S.

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<p></p><p>Snow is falling in the northern and central Rockies through the middle of this week with accumulations close to 18" for the highest elevations of Colorado, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming! As a result, winter alerts remain in effect for portions of Wyoming and Montana. Some of the numbers that have come in from some Colorado ski resorts have been impessive over the past 2 days (above). </p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/winter weather alerts-1713351599250.jpg">Snowfall totals for portions of Wyoming, the Tetons, Idaho, and Montana could still reach up to an additional foot through the next day or so.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/additional snow-1713351664591.jpg"></p><p>Snowfall will continue in the high terrain for the next couple of days as northwesterly winds combined with low-pressure development lead to orographic (terrain lift) producing snow showers for the highest peaks.</p><p></p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-17 05-06-40-1713352057821.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><p>If you think it's pretty late in the season to see snowfall, you may be surprised to learn that many cities in the northern Rockies see their average last snowfall in April and May, and we are right on track!</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2024/04/avg last snow-1713189992904.jpg"></p>

Caitlin Connell

Spring Snow in the Rocky Mountain States

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Southern California was scorched by wildfires and mudslides within the last couple months, and communities are struggling to recover.

We spoke with Amy Collins, a <a href="https://www.amygraceevents.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wedding planner in Santa Barbara</a> and former resident, who shares what it's been like for both homeowners and business owners alike.

https://youtu.be/szeXpcK2S4k

The community is rallying together to help those devastated by both the Thomas Fire and recent mudslides.  Check out <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/santabarbarastrong" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the GoFundMe page</a> for more information on how you can donate or help those affected.

For WeatherNation, I'm Meredith Garofalo

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If you have been enjoying the Spring warmth i

Spring Snow in the Rocky Mountain States

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