Brittany Lockley

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The Storm Prediction Center has issued an&nbsp;enhanced risk of severe weather on Thursday. Storms have started to fire up and will continue into the evening hours. The greatest threats 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/JFJFJ-1776970382739.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/THROUGH TONIGHT EEE-1776970448826.png">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.

Jackie Brown

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

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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/FIRE `-1776970151945.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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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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Several rounds of severe storms are expected to impact the middle of the country through the weekend and even into next week! An elevated risk on Thursday will lead into Friday's risk across the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley (below), before another system emerges on Saturday.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-23 073536-1776951393975.png">Wind and hail are expected to be the most widespread hazards form Friday's storms, but an isolated tornado is also possible.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-23 073549-1776951435869.png">By Saturday, another wave of energy will increase jet stream energy over the Central Plains, increasing parameters and organization for severe storms. An enhanced risk (level 3 out of 5) is highlighting areas from Wichita through Fort Smith.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-23 073542-1776951398978.png"> Storms will likely be underway Friday morning as a squall line or MCS moves across the Plains into the Mississippi Valley. The dry-line will likely lead to a new round of severe storms starting in the afternoon around the I-35 corridor. <video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/2026-04-23 09-13-29-1776957252424.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video><h1>Next System</h1>Yet another wave of energy from an upper-level trough will emerge from the Rockies to end the weekend and start next week. The SPC has already issued enhanced outlooks for Sunday and Monday from the Plains into the Midwest and Midsouth. These outlooks will change in the next few days so be sure to check back in with us for specific threats (like tornadoes) and timing details closer to the event.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-23 091611-1776957389901.png">With several rounds of severe thunderstorms expected, heavy rain will add up over the next week. Thankfully this will not all come at once, but isolated flash flooding will remain a possibility with each system.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot 2026-04-23 091843-1776957535087.png">

Severe Weather Chances Continue Friday through Tuesday

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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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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.

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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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https://youtu.be/i-_fIlQrrK8

Pea size, baseball size, even grapefruit size?

There are many everyday items that we can use to determine the best estimate of a hail stone.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-90381 size-full" src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2018/04/hail-size-chart-pics.jpg" alt="" width="630" height="617" />

Courtesy: NOAA/National Weather Service

Pea size hail is ¼" in diameter and hail at ¾" is the width of a penny.

When hail is 1" in diameter, that’s the same size as a quarter and also when hail size is considered "severe" (or large enough to potentially cause damage).

<img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-90382" src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2018/04/quart-728x408.jpg" alt="" width="728" height="408" />

Some of the most destructive hail that falls measures at least 2" in diameter!

Tennis ball size is 2 ½", baseball size measures 2.75", tea cup size is 3", and softball size measures 4" in diameter.

<img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-90383" src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2018/04/weldon-1-728x408.jpg" alt="" width="728" height="408" />

Did you know hail can be even larger than that?

https://twitter.com/i/status/1258580136699420674

The biggest hailstone ever recorded was near Vivian, South Dakota in 2010, coming in at 8” in diameter!

<img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-90384" src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2018/04/viv-2-728x408.jpg" alt="" width="728" height="408" />

Just remember -- before you go outside to measure the size of hail that fell in your backyard, wait until the storm has moved far enough away so you can safely make your observation.

For WeatherNation, I’m <a href="https://media.weathernationtv.com/team/meredith-garofalo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meteorologist Meredith Garofalo</a>

Understanding Hail Size

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

The Storm Prediction Center has issued an&nbs

Extreme Drought Leads To Fire Concerns Across The Nation

SOUTHEASTOver 97% of the Southeast is in mode

Severe Weather Chances Continue Friday through Tuesday

Several rounds of severe storms are expected

Quieter California... For Now

CALIFORNIA - The rain and snow across Califor

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