Tracey Anthony

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A severe weather threat is taking shape across the southern Plains this week as a stalled boundary, a sharpening dryline and an upper-level disturbance come together over a record breaking warm and increasingly humid central airmass.<h2>OUTLOOK</h2>A MARGINAL &amp; SLIGHT risk severe weather outlook has been issued through tonight across portions of the Red River Valley.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-31 134301-1774986256337.png">An ENHANCED risk has been issued for Wednesday afternoon and evening. Damaging wind, large hail and a few tornadoes will be possible. Storms look favorable to fire along the dryline and in dry line fashion they will fire as discrete supercells increasing the threat for large or very large hail.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-31 134256-1774986278668.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-31 134310-1774986283109.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-31 134306-1774986287349.png"><h2>TIMING</h2>Today's storms fire off of the dryline and look likely into the afternoon and evening. Some storms will continue through the night but likely new storms will form tomorrow afternoon before quickly clustering together into more of a line through Wednesday evening.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/03-31_RSC HRRR-1774986292527.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>

Alana Cameron

OH Hail, the Drylines are Back - Severe Ramps up Across the South

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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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While much of the country, and in particular the Southwest, has been baking underneath a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/record-heat-rolls-east-this-week">historic heatwave</a>, a shift in the jet stream will mean cooler and wetter weather ahead!<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2038436047768670271" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2038436047768670271"></div><h1>Forecast Timing</h1>Precipitation chances will persist through much of next week, especially for the Four Corners on Tuesday. Another strong upper-level low dropping in from the Northwest could keep things active through the latter half of next week.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/03-31 rsw-1774986400144.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-31 062657-1774952833980.png">For late-season skiing, there looks to be fresh snowfall for the mountains of Utah and Colorado.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-31 134738-1774986468029.png">Although not a "Drought Buster" by any means, these systems will at least help put a dent into the record-low snowpack across the West, along with some relief from the heat!Catch more on your full Western Regional Forecast, :50 past the hour on WeatherNation.

SW Pattern Change Ahead: Tracking Rain & Snow

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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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Artemis 2 is finally ready to launch! After testing reveled a few issues in February and March, those issues have been resolved which has given the mission a go for launch in a window that opens Wednesday afternoon, April 1st.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-28 091928-1774711352235.png">What is the Artemis program? To put it simply, it's the first step in a series of programs to send humans to Mars, but first, Artemis aims to bring humans back to the moon, establishing a base while testing humanity's ability to live outside of Earth's orbit.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-28 091131a-1774710738504.jpg">This will be the first mission since 1972 to take humans before low-earth orbit, and likely farther from earth than any human has traveled before.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-31 054746-1774957678714.jpg">When it comes to launch day, the forecast is critical. Florida will likely have some pop-up showers, but it's a bit too early to determine if any thunderstorms could be in the area. Lightning poses a major issue and does frequently cause delays in Central Florida, but even a building cumulus field can cause launch issues.

Artemis 2 Set To Launch Wednesday, Watching the Forecast

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<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2038956981763903857" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2038956981763903857"></div>A system is moving across the great lakes today. This will bring a grab bag of weather types but the severe threat is one of the largest concerns widespread.<h1>Severe Outlooks</h1>A SLIGHT is in effect for today. Isolated tornadoes will be possible with the threat of stronger tornadoes where they do develop.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-31 125306-1774983271323.png">A significant tornado threat is possible with the storms that do develop.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-31 125309-1774983275736.png">Wednesday the threat shifts east, and is downgraded to a level one MARGINAL outlook.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-31 125312-1774983280387.png">We will do it again on Thursday with another wave working on through.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-31 125505-1774983310118.png"><h1>Forecast Timing</h1>Severe storms have been happening since late last night across portions of the Midwest and will continue to influence the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. Multiple clusters of thunderstorms will continue to bring the threat of large hail, damaging wind gusts, and the off tornado here and there. This activity is expected to persist into the evening, spreading farther east.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/03-31_rnc rne hrrr 12z-1774983424476.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-31 125714-1774983443238.png">Tune into WeatherNation for the latest on these storms.

Severe Storms - A Look At the Northern Risk

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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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ABOVE - The month of March has been setting record after record, with nearly 100 locations nationwide breaking all-time March records. Each red dot above denotes a city that has tied or broken its all-time March record.<h1>Heat Continues</h1>The ridge of high pressure has slid east, and we are seeing record warmth across the Plains and Midwest! Records were set in cities like Dodge City, Kansas, and Chicago, Illinois. Chicago saw a record of 80°, beating the old record of 79°.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/cord highs today-1774922985835.png">More record highs can be broken across the Country through Wednesday! Check out all the cities that have the potential to break records.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-31 061004-1774959011621.jpg">Temperatures will be 20 degrees above average for some. But a frontal boundary will bring strong storms and cooler air as it moves through. Chicago will go from a high of 72° on Tuesday, and by Wensday drop down to just 40°. Temperatures will pick back up as quickly as they drop down.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/above ggg-1774923240519.png">Above-average temperatures will remain in place in the south through the week.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/above averagggg-1774923254524.png">

Kevin Schneider

More Record Highs Obliterated in Historic Heat Wave

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It's been unbearably hot across the West for the last week, after warm and dry conditions for a good chunk of the winter season. This has led to drought conditions, with dry vegetation ready to burn. Another cold front moves across the Northern Rockies and High Plains, increasing fire danger into the upcoming week. Fire Weather Alerts are in effect overnight. There are even threats for isolated dry thunderstorms that can spark wildfires in Arizona and New Mexico overnight.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/overnightttttssss-1774923482169.png">In Nebraska, the Ashby and Minor fires grew rapidly by tens of thousands of acres, very close to the Morrill burn scar. Given the continued fire weather conditions, more fire growth is possible.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-30 083405-1774881249265.png">An elevated threat for fire weather continues Tuesday across portions of New Mexico and Texas.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-30 083433-1774881277930.png">Keep it locked in on WeatherNation, as we continue to update you on these fires and their impacts!

Critical Fire Danger & Isolated Dry Thunderstorms

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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 here 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 2026-03-28 050710-1774696193114.png">On Thursday, March 26th, the National Mall announced peak bloom has been reached! The peak is expected to last about a week or so, depending on weather conditions. On March 5th, the National Park Service announced its projected peak cherry blossom date for 2026, which was only off by about 3 days - an impressive forecast!<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.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot 2026-03-26 080844-1774534352362.png"><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.

PEAK BLOOM - Cherry Blossoms Emerge at the National Mall

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VIDEOS OF THE DAY -- Check out these amazing videos from different firefighter teams battling the wildfires in California. Not only are they working to contain these fires but also helping rescue those trapped by the smoke and flames.

https://www.facebook.com/WeatherNation/videos/303139770540420/

https://www.facebook.com/WeatherNation/videos/1092068630970276/

For WeatherNation, I'm <a href="https://media.weathernationtv.com/team/meredith-garofalo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meteorologist Meredith Garofalo</a>

Heroic Rescues from Wildfires

OH Hail, the Drylines are Back - Severe Ramps up Across the South

A severe weather threat is taking shape acros

SW Pattern Change Ahead: Tracking Rain & Snow

While much of the country, and in particular

Artemis 2 Set To Launch Wednesday, Watching the Forecast

Artemis 2 is finally ready to launch! After t

Severe Storms - A Look At the Northern Risk

A system is moving across the great lakes tod

More Record Highs Obliterated in Historic Heat Wave

ABOVE - The month of March has been setting r

Critical Fire Danger & Isolated Dry Thunderstorms

It's been unbearably hot across the West for

PEAK BLOOM - Cherry Blossoms Emerge at the National Mall

Top Image Credit: National Parks ServiceSprin