Tracey Anthony

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<h1>SOUTHEAST</h1>Over 97% of the Southeast is in moderate to exceptional drought. These dry conditions have been one of many factors increasing the fire threat across the southeast. This is the driest this area has been since the year 2000.Many states have counties under burn bans. If you are in a local burn ban, please use caution and obey!<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/WEB 1-1776950509443.png"> <div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2047291899661504672" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2047291899661504672"></div><h1>CENTRAL PLAINS</h1>An ELEVATED to CRITICAL risk for fire danger is in effect for the Plains. These areas are dealing with incredibly dry conditions, increasing drought, gusty conditions, and warmer-than-normal temperatures. Thunderstorms are also possible within the fire risk, especially in the Eastern Plains. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/WEB 3-1776950803421.png">Cities like Denver, CO, and Albuquerque, NM will have humidity levels down to the single digits.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/WEB 5-1776951128363.png">More details can be found live on WeatherNation throughout the hour.

Extreme Drought Leads To Fire Concerns Across The Nation

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Brittany Lockley

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Renewed rounds of severe weather are expected to impact the central states over the next few days, bringing the potential for large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes. Atmospheric conditions are once again becoming favorable for strong-to-severe storms as warm, moist air surges northward and clashes with an incoming system. The Storm Prediction Center continues to highlight an area of potential severe weather, extending from North Texas to the Canadian border (above).<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-22 185319-1776905606346.png">The Storm Prediction Center has issued a Enhanced risk of severe weather on Thursday. The forecast suggests that these storms will fire up around 6 PM and extend later into the evening. The greatest threats on Thursday will include very large hail and powerful wind gusts, but a few tornadoes are also a concern, especially in areas where storms can remain isolated and intensify. The timing of these storms could stretch from late week into the weekend, with multiple rounds possible as the system slowly moves across the region.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/2026-04-23 06-13-31-1776946668077.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>Within that risk, there is a highlighted threat of a few tornadoes. The hatched area has the potential for stronger tornadoes, EF2 or stronger.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-23 061215-1776946340507.jpg">Heavy rainfall may also accompany these storms, raising the risk of localized flooding in some areas already dealing with saturated ground. Residents across the Plains are being urged to stay weather-aware and have multiple ways to receive warnings, as conditions can change quickly during severe weather outbreaks.&nbsp;<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-23 061250-1776946377207.jpg">Tune into WeatherNation for more details.

Severe Storm Threat Reloads Across Plains with Hail, Wind, and Tornado Risk

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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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CALIFORNIA - The rain and snow across California have ended, although not after picking up a good amount of precipitation! <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot20260422044859png-1776855063728.png">Later this week and into the weekend, a new system will come onshore, bringing the Southwest additional rain and snow chances. If you missed out on this latest frontal system, there's more to come!<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/west-1776883365335.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>The timing of this moisture starts to pick up as the upper-level low-pressure system moves in to end the week. Scattered showers and snow showers are possible across California, Nevada, and the Four Corners starting late Saturday, but picking up by the weekend.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/weirdcali-1776904893006.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>Rain and snowfall totals don't look to be overly impressive, but it's something considering the ongoing drought out west.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-22 184146-1776904921988.png">

Dave Holder

Quieter California... For Now

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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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Already looking ahead to the end of the week and into the weekend, there are multiple areas of low pressure that will keep severe storms in the forecast. The Storm Prediction Center has outlined areas of the Plains to the South for severe weather. Friday and Saturday is focused on Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Friday is already under a slight risk.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-22 124718-1776883660021.png">A 30% chance for severe weather is already highlighted across portions of Oklahoma and Kansas for Saturday.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-22 174117-1776901288099.png">Sunday and Monday will remain active with the Storm Prediction Center keeping outlooks through the weekend and into early next week. By Monday, the threat shifts farther east into Tennessee and Alabama.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-22 080015-1776866449143.png">The next 7 days ahead has the risk for areas of heavy rainfall.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-22 045612-1776855390629.png">

Rob Bradley

Looking Ahead: Late-Week & Weekend Severe Weather Threats

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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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<h1>WHAT TO EXPECT</h1>A blast of cold air has brought freeze warnings across portions of the Great Lakes, Midwest, and East. Temperatures will drop sub-freezing for Tuesday morning. These temps can impact crops and sensitive vegetation with the potential to damage unprotected outdoor plumbing. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-21 033536-1776764192555.png">Lows will be cold overnight! Tuesday morning starts out with temperatures in the 20s and 30s for some.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-21 033649-1776764227460.png">There is even the potential for record lows to break on Tuesday morning with sub-freezing temperatures. The dots on the map are cities that could tie or break record lows.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-21 033730-1776764265718.png">Some of these temperatures include the 20s for cities like Syracuse, NY which may break a record Tuesday morning.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-21 033759-1776764294595.png">The cold snap won't last long, as by Wednesday temperatures will rebound back to above average.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-21 033843-1776764338209.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-21 033911-1776764364505.png">

Adrian Hernandez

Cold Blast Prompts Frost and Freeze Alerts

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Flooding turned serious over the last week across Michigan and Wisconsin. Heavy rain &amp; severe storms arrived on top of spring snowmelt. <div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2045208169664913798" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2045208169664913798"></div>A big part of this flood set up traces back to the Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where a very snowy winter left a large amount of water locked in the snowpack. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Web_1-1776694765560.png">At the same time, Milwaukee set a new April precipitation record by April 16, surpassing the old record of 7.38 inches from 2013. &nbsp;<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Web_4-1776695176771.png"><div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2044823132792365142" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2044823132792365142"></div>The flood threat is not over yet. The National Weather Service in Marquette said Monday that the threat for river flooding will continue across north-central and eastern Upper Michigan as temperatures warm into the 40s, and its latest flood briefing said minor to moderate flooding is expected over the next seven days, with major flooding possible along parts of the Sturgeon and Muskegon Rivers. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Web_7-1776695604663.png">For more on your central regional forecast, tune into WeatherNation :30 past the hour.

Kevin Schneider

Record Snow, Record Rain, Rising Rivers

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Tornadoes, hail, wind, and rain slammed the Midwest and Great Plains on Friday as a powerful storm system moved into the region. The same storm system was producing snow in Colorado while tornado warnings were being issued hundreds of miles to the east. Unfortunately, tornadoes hit some residential areas causing damage to homes in several states and injuring at least one person in Iowa. Thankfully, no deaths have been reported thus far. We'll post summaries of the tornadoes, including their ratings, as that information comes in over the next few days. Head to the bottom of the page for radar loops from Friday.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-20 103932-1776703184677.png"> <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-18 051753-1776512252193.png">Over one hundred tornado warnings were issued with 25 reports of tornadoes either being spotted or causing damage.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-18 051244-1776512264052.png">Many more severe thunderstorm warnings and flash flood warnings were issued on Friday, with many warnings confirmed by reports (below).<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-18 051758-1776512271813.png">Hail topped 3 inches in diameter (bigger than baseballs) in both the Midwest and Plains on Friday, with many significant hail reports (over 2 inches).<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-18 051925-1776512279734.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-18 051918-1776514705456.png">Hurricane force wind gusts also verified on Friday, with at least 5 reported over hurricane strength in the Midwest. Squall lines formed late in the day to produce large bowing segments.<h1><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-18 051932-1776512279733.png">Radar Review</h1>Radar imagery from Friday was impressive, with many discrete supercells forming before the storms became more linear late in the evening. Many warnings were issued for storms, including confirmed tornado warnings (pink instead of red).<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/2026-04-18 03-04-23-1776516944009.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/2026-04-18 03-12-44-1776516960303.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/2026-04-18 03-13-20-1776516972432.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>

Looking Back at Last Week's Severe Weather Outbreak

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February is a little longer this year thanks to 2020 being a leap year, but how is that calculated? Hint: It's not every four years! Meteorologist Steve Glazier explains in the video below.

https://youtu.be/S_csshx2Xr8

Here are the basic guidelines for calculating a leap year:
<ul>
 	<li>Any year evenly divisible by 4, except if that year is also evenly divisible by 100, unless that year is also evenly divisible by 400</li>
</ul>
Confused? Be sure to watch the video above! Long story short, it does not take exactly 365 calendar days to make one orbit around our sun. It takes roughly 365.24 days and that extra time needs to be accounted for occasionally to make sure time is correct. That's why an extra day is added on to February every four years (mostly, according to the exceptions above). Enjoy the extra day this weekend!

Leap Year: Explained

Extreme Drought Leads To Fire Concerns Across The Nation

SOUTHEASTOver 97% of the Southeast is in mode

Severe Storm Threat Reloads Across Plains with Hail, Wind, and Tornado Risk

Renewed rounds of severe weather are expected

Quieter California... For Now

CALIFORNIA - The rain and snow across Califor

Looking Ahead: Late-Week & Weekend Severe Weather Threats

Already looking ahead to the end of the week

Cold Blast Prompts Frost and Freeze Alerts

WHAT TO EXPECTA blast of cold air has brought

Record Snow, Record Rain, Rising Rivers

Flooding turned serious over the last week ac

Looking Back at Last Week's Severe Weather Outbreak

Tornadoes, hail, wind, and rain slammed the M