Brittany Lockley

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A big warmup is taking hold across the eastern United States, bringing temperatures that will feel more like midsummer than mid-May. Much of the East Coast, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast saw temperatures surge into record-breaking territory as a strong area of high pressure settled over the region.&nbsp;Numerous records were broken on Tuesday afternoon, including Newark, NJ, which hit a high of 99 degrees. The NE can see one more day of record warmth before temperatures cool off.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/NORTHEAST HIGHS-1779242730674.png">RELATED: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/severe-storms-possible-in-the-plains-midwest-to-end-the-week">Severe Chances on the Plains</a>High temperatures are forecast to climb into the 80s across many areas, while some cities could approach or even reach 90 degrees for the first time this year in the Northeast. The normal average for New York City this time of year is 72°, but the forecast high is expected to be 85° on Wednesday. Temperatures will dip back down to the 60s on Thursday, once a front passes.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-20 030656-1779268041186.png">On Wednesday, more records will be broken with some locations up to 20 to 30 degrees warmer than what is typical for this time of year.&nbsp;This has prompted heat advisories through Wednesday afternoon. Major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor, including Philadelphia and New York City, will come close to daily temperature records if the heat intensifies enough. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-20 031314-1779268412172.png">Additional records are likely to fall through mid-week across the East before our central U.S. cold front draws in cooler air and stormy weather.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-20 032043-1779268878961.png">Despite the urge, stay out of the waters in the area. Many bodies of water are barely above freezing, which could shock the system into paralysis if you jump in<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-18 104353-1779122640973.png">The unusually warm pattern will come to an end after our front passes through on Thursday. By the end of the week, many spots will be closer to seasonal norms in the 70's<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-20 031551-1779268564533.png">

Kevin Schneider

One More Day of Blistering Temperatures

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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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SIMI VALLEY, CA - On Monday, May 18th in Ventura County California, a new wildfire formed named the Sandy Fire. It has since burned over 1600 acres and grew quickly threatening life and property. This prompted evacuation orders and warnings to the area.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-20 100534-1779293143228.png">Footage in the region shows the extent of the smoke and poor air quality.<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2056736634754809931" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2056736634754809931"></div>Additional fires have since quickly formed in southern California, despite no red flag warnings or fire weather outlook. The winds managed to be strong enough for fires to quickly get out of control in the areas. The Bain Fire in Riverside started to burn heavy fuels at a moderate rate before quickly burning up to almost 1000 acres. This prompted evacuation orders and warnings for many Riverside Zones.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-19 201848-1779243680495.png">Due to the extent of several wildfires burning in southern California, air quality has worsened in the area, and air quality alerts have been issued for the Greater Los Angeles area.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-20 100441-1779293109884.png">For more on these, be sure to join us at WeatherNation at :50 past the hour.

CALIFORNIA: Wildfires Prompt Evacuations

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We've had quite the active stretch to start this workweek off. For the breakdown of what went on, give this a read<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/severe-storms-leave-trail-of-destruction-on-the-plains">https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/severe-storms-leave-trail-of-destruction-on-the-plains</a><h1>NORTHEAST</h1>A cold front is pushing into the northeast, into record hot temperatures. That combination is expected to lead to strong-to-severe storms Wednesday afternoon. The biggest threat will be damaging winds and large hail as storms move through this evening. <video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/2026-05-20 10-00-20-1779292843052.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><h1>TEXAS</h1>The tail end of the front is dragging into the Lone Star State as well. That will provide enough of a focus for more storms, but down here, they could lead to a tornado or two. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-20 095609-1779292861700.png">Intense downpours could lead to some localized flooding, especially in Texas. Some areas could pick up 2-3 inches of rain as storms push through. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-20 100148-1779292937347.png">

Severe Storms Stick Around Midweek

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A slow-moving frontal boundary that brought numerous days of severe weather to the Plains, has hit a snag down south. It's in the process of stalling out, which will provide the focus for storm chances over the next few days. With multiple rounds of storms on the way, flooding is a growing concern. Some areas of Texas have already seen 3-4 inches of rain!<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-20 043144-1779273210458.png"><h1>FORECAST</h1>Going forward, the heaviest of the rainfall will target the lower Mississippi River Valley, into the Midwest. Some areas will pick up 3-5 more inches with some localized areas surpassing that easily. If you live in a flood-prone area of the southern plains into the Ohio River Valley, be prepared to seek higher ground. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-20 043534-1779273342489.png">With rounds of heavy rain expected over the next several days, the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) has issued 5 straight Excessive Rainfall Outlooks highlighting the flash flood threat. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/2026-05-2004-38-04-ezgif.com-video-to-gif-converter-1779273605586.gif">A good reminder to avoid driving through flooded roadways at all costs. You never know what's under that water.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-19 053417-1779190502548.png">

Repeated Rain Raises the Flood Threat Down South

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<h1>SUNDAY</h1>A potent setup, fueled by record hot temperatures, lead to destructive severe storms this past weekend. The worst of the days was easily Sunday, with over 300 reports of severe weather, including hail, damaging winds, and a few tornadoes.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-18 110814-1779124204412.png">A strong tornado touched down in Nebraska as a part of the outbreak. Even with all of this damage, no injuries were reported Sunday afternoon.<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2056161399349580033" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2056161399349580033?s=20"></div>In a recent update after the damage survey labeled that Saint Libory tornado and EF3!<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-19 050928-1779188995338.png">Other places were spared tornado damage but picked up MASSIVE hailstones. It's not a surprise that the cell responsible for the damage in Palmer also produced the largest hailstone on the day.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-18 111222-1779124373927.png">All of this severe weather came on the heels of an active day to start off the weekend! Severe storms lead to baseball-plus-sized hail in Missouri and Kansas, and prompted a Flash Flood Emergency in the Trenton, MO area after 6+ inches of rain fell.<h1>MONDAY</h1>Yet another big severe weather day was felt across the Midwest. We received roughly 20 tornado reports across Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas. Hefty damaging winds and large hail reports came pouring out yesterday as well!<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-19 101520-1779207339213.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-19 050444-1779188693950.png">A Particularly Dangerous Situation Tornado Watch was issued ahead of several tornado-warned storms. Some touched down, giving us views just like this one out of Blue Rapids, Kansas!<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2056524242070741358" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2056524242070741358"></div><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-19 050839-1779188929043.png">

Severe Storms Leave Trail of Destruction on 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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ROCKIES - The precipitation will continue to slow down through Tuesday morning, but more precipitation and snow will be possible on Tuesday afternoon. Totals may still be heavier in the Rocky Mountains.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-18 163246-1779143794793.png">Behind this wintry, rainy weather, temperatures will be at their coolest through Tuesday morning. This has prompted frost and freeze alerts for Tuesday morning for the High Country. Be sure to protect any sensitive vegetation overnight if you want it to last this freeze!<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-18 163251-1779143843851.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-18 163259-1779143848747.png">Check back in to WeatherNation for the latest.

Jackie Brown

Spring: Frost Alerts Post Winter Alerts in High Country

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Numerous fires have been burning from the panhandle to the western Plains. Through Tuesday morning, there is an extreme fire danger across these areas. This is the highest level of outlook that the Storm Prediction Center issues. The extreme risk is not often issued, and typically denotes conditions that could lead to the unstoppable spread of fires. Residents in these areas should review their evacuation plans and have a "go bag" ready with essential items like medications and important documents. Don't forget your pets!Our field correspondent, Jonathan Petramala has been following these fires, and here's his latest report.<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2056487491100975119" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2056487491100975119"></div>The fire danger weans as we head into Tuesday but remains at elevated levels for portions of Arizona and New Mexico.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-18 162935-1779143455125.png">Make sure you're prepared for fire danger and know all the ways to prevent a fire too.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot 2026-05-18 085121-1779115885540.png">

Extreme Fire Danger Causes Thousands of Acres Burned

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How strong is the jet stream? Enough to take a standard National Weather Service upper-air observation balloon on a journey nearly a thousand miles!

https://twitter.com/weatherdak/status/966741182532304896

Twice a day, every day NWS offices across the country launch radiosondes, or balloons with attached weather observing instruments. Scientists use the data collected as the balloon travels upwards in the atmosphere to build vertical profiles, which are essential to understanding the structure of weather systems. When collected at a large number of locations, upper-air observations help establish the initial conditions for computer models that forecast weather and climate conditions.

On Thursday morning, the NWS office in Fort Worth, TX received word that one of their balloons got caught up in the powerful jet stream of the current storm system and traveled all the way to Dexter, MI. That's nearly 1,000 miles away!

https://twitter.com/NWSFortWorth/status/966750854878564354

For WeatherNation, Meteorologist Karissa Klos.

Dallas to Dexter: The Journey of a Weather Balloon

One More Day of Blistering Temperatures

A big warmup is taking hold across the easter

CALIFORNIA: Wildfires Prompt Evacuations

SIMI VALLEY, CA - On Monday, May 18th in Vent

Severe Storms Stick Around Midweek

We've had quite the active stretch to start t

Repeated Rain Raises the Flood Threat Down South

A slow-moving frontal boundary that brought n

Severe Storms Leave Trail of Destruction on the Plains

SUNDAYA potent setup, fueled by record hot te

Spring: Frost Alerts Post Winter Alerts in High Country

ROCKIES - The precipitation will continue to

Extreme Fire Danger Causes Thousands of Acres Burned

Numerous fires have been burning from the pan