Tracey Anthony

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The Aspen Acres fire burning in Southern Colorado, near Pueblo, is over 55,000 acres with no containment. Evacuations remain in place as the fire is still expected to grow due to strong winds. <div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2071956924137136402" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2071956924137136402?s=20"></div>Numerous additional wildfires continue to burn across Utah, Colorado, and Arizona, scorching tens of thousands of acres.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/pic5-1783090578000.png"><div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2072523156376752267" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2072523156376752267"></div>These fires are also sending smoke and hazardous air quality through the four corners. Air quality alerts are in effect across a large portion of Colorado, including Denver.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot 2026-07-01 082804-1782916092423.png"><h1>Fire Outlooks</h1>A critical fire risk will continue for Friday. The ongoing wildfires out west are postponing fireworks shows for the Fourth of July. If you are planning to use fireworks, be careful and have a bucket of water nearby in case a fire starts. The strong winds and low humidity can spread those fires quickly.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/pic5-1783090756940.png">This is especially important as we move towards the 4th of July, as it's possible to continue these fire conditions into the weekend.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/06/Screenshot 2026-06-27 043144-1782556311355.png">Residents are encouraged to stay informed, follow local evacuation orders, and do their part to help prevent the start and spread of wildfires this summer.

Patrick Crawford

Massive Fires Burn in the Four Corners

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Rob grew up in South Florida, where daily afternoon storms and hurricanes piqued his interest in meteorology early on. That interest was fostered by his teachers and his father, who one time brought him onto the roof of their home to watch a funnel cloud move through the Everglades several miles away. Years of filmmaking and tv production in high school gradually pushed him toward broadcast meteorology at Florida State University, where he joined and eventually led the student run daily weather show. After graduating with a Bachelors of Science in Meteorology, he began his career at KESQ in Palm Springs, California before heading to KFSN in Fresno and WLOS in Asheville, North Carolina. He has covered a diverse array of extreme weather events, including haboobs and flash flooding in the desert, extreme snow in the Sierra, hurricanes, and Appalachian ice storms. He also enjoys telling stories and reporting about weather issues.

Connect with Rob on <a href="https://twitter.com/WxRobBradley">Twitter</a>

Rob Bradley

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Strong storms rocked the Midwest and Plains again on Thursday afternoon. Locations in both South Dakota and Iowa recorded hailstones of at least 3" in diameter!<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot 2026-07-02 194546-1783043173286.png"><h1>STORM TIMING:</h1>Storms from the previous day will likely persist into the overnights and mornings before a new round of storms gets triggered by the afternoon. As the frontal boundary drops to the south to end the week, storm initiation will track south with the boundary while storms continue to move to the east.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/stormsforever-1783043297355.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><h1>Outlooks / Hazards</h1>The outlook issued for Friday has a large level 2 threat from parts of Ohio through South Dakota. Wind and hail will remain the primary concern. A heightened threat has been highlighted across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa for damaging winds and 2" diameter hail.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot 2026-07-02 194915-1783043363915.png">

Rounds of Severe Storms Target the Midwest

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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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The hottest temperatures of the year are happening right now. An area of high pressure will cause the temperatures to rise underneath. Intense heat will build across the Midwest and Northeast this week as the ridge moves east. There is an Extreme Heat Risk labeled for many on Thursday as the heat intensifies (above). Numerous records fell across the Northeast Thursday and more will be likely over the next few days.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/1-1783043235708.png">Over 200 million people are under heat alerts this week. Not only will the air temperatures be scorching hot, breaking records, but the humidity will add to the dangers of heat illness. Dew points are expected to be in the 70s, meaning your body will have more difficulty cooling off.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/1-1783043293690.png">We spoke with the National Weather Service in Philadelphia/Mt. Holly to get some perspective on just how unusual this heat is for the northeast.<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="false" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PlvJoWIawEw" start="0"></iframe></div>The record and intense heat will continue for Friday especially along the East Coast.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/PIC 5-1783086041146.jpg"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/PIC 3-1783086052217.jpg">Heat waves become deadly when they are extended in duration, and complicated by overnight lows struggling to cool off enough. Be sure to mix in plenty of water, even with a holiday weekend coming up. Know the signs to look out for in friends and family.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/06/Screenshot 2026-06-27 043943-1782556806519.png">

Dangerous Stretch of Heat Continues Into the Holiday Weekend

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Meteorologist Jesse Kelley is excited to join the talented staff at Weather Nation. Jesse spent most of his childhood in Birmingham, Alabama. The state of Alabama is prone to seeing various types of weather from severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and winter weather. For college, Jesse attended the University of South Alabama where he received his degree in Broadcast Meteorology along with minors in Math and Geography. From Alabama, Jesse started his broadcast television working three years at KAVU-TV in Victoria. Recently, he finished a stint in Shreveport, LA. Jesse and his wife are looking forward to making the Rocky Mountains and Colorado home. If you would like to follow me, you can follow me on Twitter @JesseKelleywx and on Facebook at Meteorologist Jesse Kelley.

Jesse Kelley

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Severe storms will be possible as we head towards the holiday weekend across the Northeast ahead of a heatwave that is sending heat index values into the triple digits.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/dangerous-stretch-of-heat-shaping-up-this-week">Dangerous Stretch of Heat Shaping Up This Week</a>A threat of severe weather sticks around through tonight across portions of Upstate New York and New England. An isolated severe storm or two is still possible within this outlook.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/1-1783042582019.png">A better chance of severe storms will come along for Friday and Saturday across the Northeast with some storms reaching severe limits.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/BARON 5-1783042781818.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>A Marginal risk for severe weather sticks around the Northeast into the end of the work week. A Slight Risk for severe storms has been introduced for parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest on Friday and Saturday.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot 2026-07-02 162008-1783030830204.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/1-1783042823149.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot 2026-07-02 162112-1783030884100.png">For more details on the threats and timing of these storms, tune in to WeatherNation :10 past the hour for your Eastern Regional Forecast.

Storms Spark up in the Northeast Amid Heatwave

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Dave Holder

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While upper-level ridging dominates the weather pattern across the eastern half of the country, thunderstorm development has remained possible along the southern periphery. You can see it in the pattern of severe storm reports on Wednesday.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot 2026-03-29 060538-1782995247093.png">As heat and humidity build each day, thunderstorm development will remain possible on the edge of high pressure. The main threat being straight-line damaging winds; gusts over 60mph will be possible. With locations like Nashville expecting a feels-like temperature over 110 degrees, there will be lots of instability for these storms to work with!<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/1-1783042964218.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot 2026-07-02 161524-1783030532244.png"> While not directly underneath the heat dome, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/dangerous-stretch-of-heat-leads-us-to-the-4th">strong heat and humidity</a> have helped to fuel the storms.

Muggy and Stormy in the South

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Kevin Schneider

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Early in the season, we watch closer to the coasts here at home for development in the Hurricane Season. Until the waves coming off the coast of Africa start to fly and quit losing the battle to Saharan Dust, old fronts are the leading source of development.Currently, a frontal boundary moving through the southeastern U.S. has prompted a marginal risk for severe weather across portions of the Southeast. Main threat will be damaging winds. Earlier this week, the National Hurricane Center was monitoring an area of potential tropical interest. That area is no longer expected to form into a tropical system. For now, the only name we have crossed off for the Atlantic season is Arthur.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/06/Screenshot 2026-06-27 063531-1782563982336.jpg">In the Eastern Pacific, on the other hand, Tropical Storm Douglas formed on Wednesday. This system is set to strengthen a little bit before weakening over open waters, with no impacts to land.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/07/douglassssss-1782952012931.png">

Jackie Brown

Slow-Moving Front No Longer Expected to Develop Tropically, Monitoring Eastern Pacific

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WeatherNation Meteorologists

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As Summer settles in across the Central U.S., MCSs, also known as Mesoscale Convective Systems, become more prevalent. These large clusters of thunderstorms can organize and persist for hours, travel hundreds of miles, and produce all modes of severe weather. The weather pattern over the next few days will favor repeated rounds of these storm complexes across the Plains &amp; Midwest.Strong and severe thunderstorms remain possible in the Mid South over the next few days as storms ride a ridge of high pressure. This will target the same areas through the end of the week to see severe weather. <h4><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/what-is-an-mcs">WHAT IS AN MCS: READ MORE HERE</a></h4><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/06/BARON 5-1782612588554.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>For the overnight, a few storms could still be severe across parts of the Ohio Valley before being steering into the Carolinas for Sunday. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/06/Screenshot 2026-06-27 133648-1782589019330.png">These storms will dump rain on the same areas, increasing the risk of flooding in some of the same spots that already flooded earlier this week. For more on the flooding risk, read this <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/severe-weather-returns-this-weekend">related article</a> on the flood potential.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/06/1-1782612765591.png">

'MCS' Season Brings Severe and Flooding Threats Across the Southeast

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Fall color is peaking in the Southeast. If you've been waiting to do a little leaf peeping then NOW is the time.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-99101" src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2018/10/ezgif.com-video-to-gif-19.gif" alt="Fall Color is Peaking In The Southeast" width="738" height="416" />

A shot from the Great Smoky Mountains from October 26th shows a gorgeous display of color. Many of the trees are nearing full peak color.

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<img class="alignnone wp-image-99107 size-large" src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2018/10/Capture-33-728x408.jpg" alt="Fall Color is Peaking In The Southeast" width="728" height="408" />

Another cold front moves through mid-week and as the winds pick up this will help shed some of the fall color so this weekend may be your last effort.

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Early November many of the fall foliage will be approaching past peak while those in South Georgia and close to the coast will get their share of fall vibrance

<img class="alignnone wp-image-99108 size-large" src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2018/10/Capture-34-728x408.jpg" alt="Fall Color is Peaking In The Southeast" width="728" height="408" />

Do you have cool fall foliage photos? Tweet us or Facebook us! We love to share online and on air with credit

Happy Fall Leaf Peeping!

Meteorologist <a href="https://media.weathernationtv.com/team/merry-matthews/">Merry Matthews</a>

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