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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<p>Record high temperatures were shattered to start February in California. Escondido, in Southern California, hit 92°. Another ridge of high pressure builds in midweek, bringing another round of record high potential. </p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot 2026-02-01 200638-1770001608331.png">All the red dots indicate cities that could break their record high temperature for Wednesday and Thursday.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot 2026-02-01 200739-1770001664922.png">Cities like Los Angeles have average highs this time of the year in the 60s. Instead, high temperatures could hit 90° by Wednesday.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot 2026-02-01 200815-1770001703754.png">Farther north, temperatures will also be around 10° above average.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot 2026-02-01 200812-1770001738419.png">This warmth out west is not expected to go anywhere. The longer range temperature outlook shows a higher confidence of warmer than normal temperatures sticking around through February 11th.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot 2026-02-01 200938-1770001814610.png"></p>

Feeling More Like Summer Out West

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<p>While it has now been about a week since a major ice storm swept across the southern tier of the country, over a hundred thousand customers remain without power, the majority across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. While temperatures warmed some, it's been a cold week for people to be without power and even colder air is settling in for the weekend, creating dangerous conditions for those without heat.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot 2026-02-01 195026-1770000631129.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot 2026-02-01 195038-1770000642428.png">Cold alerts remain across portions of the Southeast through Monday morning. Make sure you're taking care of your pets, neighbors, plants, and exposed plumbing!</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot 2026-02-01 173435-1769992483326.png">Temperatures for cities like Tampa, FL will again drop to freezing! Watch for falling iguanas....</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot 2026-02-01 173602-1769992567275.png">Low temperatures will begin to rebound, more noticeably, by midweek.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot 2026-02-01 173703-1769992630375.png">Will continue to update this story on Weather Nation, including your Southeast Regional Forecast, every 10 past the hour.</p>

Cold Alerts, Customers Remain Without Power

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Kevin Schneider

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<p>Snow has started piling up around portions of the Southeast. We have a little more snow to go as a strong coastal low deepens offshore and heads north to end the weekend.</p><div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2017796406862614965" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2017796406862614965?s=20"></div><p>Some locations in the Carolinas have seen historic snow totals, comparable with some of the heaviest snows in recent history. In addition to heavy snow, this low is expected to bring strong winds to the East Coast, coastal flooding, and it will drag arctic air all the way to South Florida.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot 2026-02-01 105502-1769968516931.png">Totals in some North Carolina cities exceeded 20"!</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot 2026-02-01 160422-1769987074148.png">Sunshine's helping start the melting process, but by tonight, anything that melts will refreeze, leaving slick roads for the Monday morning commute. Winter Advisories remain in place for dangerous driving conditions through Monday.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot 2026-02-01 195204-1770000729195.png">Temperatures will climb into the 40's by the middle of the week, which should help get any of the leftover snow to clear out. Another chance of rain/snow moves into the forecast by Wednesday, but doesn't appear to be quite this threatening.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot 2026-02-01 160400-1769987044338.png"></p>

Historic Snow Leaves Slick Roads into Monday

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<p>You've been warned, iguanas. We've had glancing blows of cold weather recently, stunning a few cold-blooded reptiles. This one's going to be more widespread and could even bring the threat of snow as far south as Tampa.</p><div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="false" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IusUvOmydJc" start="0"></iframe></div><h1>COLD</h1><p>A developing low-pressure will cutted across the Gulf Friday. This system did bring some impressive snow to the Carolinas before moving up the coast. That system will leave the door WIDE OPEN behind it, letting the Arctic air flow much farther south than it has been recently. Overnight lows in the 30's will make it as far south as Miami, where they haven't seen the 30's for more than a decade!</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/Screenshot 2026-01-28 101841-1769620728751.png">Even areas like the Tampa area will slip into the freezer by Sunday morning. That's where things might get interesting...</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/web1-1769944569000.png"></p><h1>GULF-EFFECT SNOW</h1><p>We've started shutting down the lake-effect machine a little bit--it's been that cold recently. Great Lake ice coverage has rocketed way above average for the time of year. Let's find another body of water. The Gulf won't freeze over!</p><div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2016346284802629827" src="https://x.com/NWSWPC/status/2016346284802629827?s=20"></div><p>For any sort of "-effect" to happen (rain or snow) there just needs to be a sizable difference in temperatures. Some lesser-known include ocean-effect snow that can sometimes affect places like Nantucket, MA. This is similar, where cold, Arctic air will flow over warmer waters of the Gulf around the Big Bend this weekend.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/Screenshot 2026-01-28 102535-1769621144325.png">The difference in temperatures will drive persistent showers onshore into Sunday. The thinking is that temperatures could catch up to the showers, turning the rain over to snow. This won't be a long-lived setup, so is expected to be more novelty than anything. It's still wild that Florida could pick up snow twice in the same Winter, though! For the record, the last time Tampa picked up measurable snow was January 19, 1977.</p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/02/2026-02-01 06-16-37-1769944619717.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>

Gulf-Effect Snow Possible This Weekend

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<p>More precipitation is in the forecast across the Pacific Northwest. Conditions have not been as active to start the weekend, but another cold front is on the way for early Sunday morning. The highest totals look to target the Olympic Peninsula again and into the foothills of the Cascades. A few inches of rain will be possible over the next several days, along with snow in the higher elevations. Localized totals may end up measuring up to a foot in the northern Cascades.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/1-1769915849541.png"></p><p>Over the next few days, the forecast calls for waves of moisture off and on, producing rain and snow showers.</p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/New Baron Video 3-1769916147523.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><p>More details on your Western Regional Forecast can be found :50 past the hour, every hour, on WeatherNation.</p>

Rain Finally Makes a Return to the Northwest

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<p style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; color: #454545;">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></span></p>

Rob Bradley

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<p>Persistent bursts of cold air have continued to produce heavy snow around the Great Lakes this week. While ice continues to build on the lakes, it doesn't look like it will stop the potential for snow over the next few days as another round of arctic air spills over the region.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/Screenshot 2026-01-29 064508-1769694424422.png">While Lake Erie is now mostly ice-covered, Lakes Michigan, Superior, and Ontario remains mostly ice free exposed, meaning cold air can still pick up plenty of moisture.</p><p>As winds shift to the north on Friday, lake effect snow will also shift, sending snow southward into northern Illinois and Indiana. The alerts now include the Chicago metro.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/1-1769829629345.png"></p><p>Some of those snow bands will even aim at Chicago, IL tonight into Saturday, with the potential for 6"+ in some neighborhoods around the city. Areas like Gary, IN, could also see some heavier totals in the area.</p><video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/New Baron Video 3-1769829767736.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><p></p><p>. The band setting up for northern Illinois also has the potential for heavy accumulation from Chicago through Gary, IN.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/1-1769829817382.png"></p><p>As for Lake Michigan it has been an active year.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/Web 2-1769783777171.png"></p><p>For more details on the Central U.S., be sure to join us :30 past the hour, for more details on the northeast, be sure to join us :10 past the hour.</p>

Lake-Effect Snow Continues, Shifts Toward Chicago This Weekend

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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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<p><strong>ABOVE - </strong>Up to one inch of ice accumulated across parts of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana, weighing down power lines and transmission equipment and causing widespread outages. As of Tuesday afternoon, roughly 300,000 customers remain without power. The threat continues with dangerously cold overnight lows expected throughout the week - and these predictions were accurate as nearly 300,000 people were still without power Thursday AM. </p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/Web 2-1769694288159.png"></p><p>The impacts of this storm are expected to linger throughout the rest of the week. With power still out, many are still in danger as cold temperatures pose a serious risk. Lows are expected to remain well below freezing each night, increasing concerns for hypothermia, frozen pipes, and additional infrastructure damage.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/Web 1-1769694270374.png"></p><h3>Wintry Precipitation Totals</h3><p>Snow started Friday in the South before switching over to sleet and ice on Saturday with our first round of precipitation. Our top snowfall totals maxed out around a foot for cities such as Little Rock, Arkansas.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/Screenshot 2026-01-26 171858-1769473186656.png">Sleet altered the forecast a bit for some, with up to 5 inches reported in cities such as Catholic Point, Arkansas.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/Screenshot 2026-01-26 172017-1769473290101.png">In the Midwest, cities like Indianapolis, Indiana, received over 10 inches of snowfall from this storm.</p><p><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/Screenshot 2026-01-26 171920-1769473316826.png">In the northeast, this was a snow-only event. Cities near Boston received almost 2 feet of snowfall, resulting in a city-wide snow day on Monday!</p><h3><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/01/Screenshot 2026-01-26 171906-1769473390953.png">Headlines</h3><ul><li><p>Icing in Tennessee caused portions of the interstate (65) to be shut down after a truck lost control, hit a sign, and caused it to collapse.</p><div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2015869851844411634" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2015869851844411634"></div><div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="false" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u-MQ4nDMG1U" start="0"></iframe></div></li><li><p>Several fatalities have been confirmed from this winter storm, including a teenage girl in Frisco, Texas, being pulled by a sled by a Jeep on Sunday morning.</p><div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2015904286497206685" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2015904286497206685"></div><p><br></p></li><li><p>The city of Boston had a snow day after the mayor closed schools on Sunday for Monday.</p></li></ul><div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2015847206176133150" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2015847206176133150"></div><p>For more details on power outages and the forecast ahead, be sure to join us LIVE on WeatherNation.</p>

Tracey Anthony

Thousands Without Power as another Systems Brews

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WeatherNation Meteorologists

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<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="false" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PH84aZY4bmc" start="0"></iframe></div><p>Every year, AEM (Advanced Environmental Monitoring) survey's millions of lightning strikes across the U.S. Meteorologist Taban Sharifi spoke with AEM lightning scientist Dr. Elizabeth DiGangi about the trends and facts in this year's annual report. </p><h2 style="text-align: start"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://aem.eco/aem-releases-2025-u-s-lightning-report-oklahoma-dethrones-florida-as-americas-lightning-concentration-capital/"><strong>Key Findings from AEM First Look</strong></a></h2><h5><em>Courtesy: AEM</em></h5><ul><li><p><strong>Top State &amp; County by Flash Density:</strong> Oklahoma claimed the top position with 73 flashes per square mile, Kay County, Oklahoma, led the nation with 123.4 flashes per square mile. Florida is frequently the dominating state in this category, however the lack of landfalling tropical systems during 2025's hurricane season likely lessened that number. Louisiana and Kansas rounded out the top four.</p></li><li><p><strong>Peak Lightning Day:</strong> June 15 saw the most of any day of the year with 929,016 flashes.</p></li><li><p><strong>Tourist and Travel Impacts: </strong>Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta reported 10,000 lightning flashes. ATL, along with several other of the busiest airports in the county saw peak lightning numbers during the summer and the peak travel season. Millennium Park in downtown Chicago recorded more than 11,000 lightning flashes. Three SEC stadiums made up the greatest lightning exposure, Tiger Stadium, Kyle Field, and the Cotton Bowl. </p></li><li><p><strong>Active Great Plains: </strong>2025 signaled a shift to more frequent lightning in the heart of the country. While Oklahoma saw the highest flash density, Texas reported the most overall flashes at 13 million. That's 1.3 million more than average for the Lone Star State. About half of the top ten lightning states in 2025 were in the Great Plains. This is due in part to major severe weather outbreaks on the billion dollar disaster scale. </p></li></ul>

Oklahoma Dethrones Florida as U.S. Lightning Capital - AEM

Key Findings from AEM First Look

Courtesy: AEM

Feeling More Like Summer Out West

Record high temperatures were shattered to st

Cold Alerts, Customers Remain Without Power

While it has now been about a week since a ma

Historic Snow Leaves Slick Roads into Monday

Snow has started piling up around portions of

Gulf-Effect Snow Possible This Weekend

You've been warned, iguanas. We've had glanci

Rain Finally Makes a Return to the Northwest

More precipitation is in the forecast across

Lake-Effect Snow Continues, Shifts Toward Chicago This Weekend

Persistent bursts of cold air have continued

Thousands Without Power as another Systems Brews

ABOVE - Up to one inch of ice accumulated acr