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Heat and Fire Weather Concerns in the West; Excessive Rainfall Possible in the South-Central U.S.

Heat will build over the Intermountain West and the Southwest the next couple of days. Lightning from dry thunderstorms can create new fire starts and combined with gusty winds may cause a fire to rapidly grow in Oregon and northern California. Flash flooding will be possible in New Mexico and west Texas today, as well as parts of the southern and central Plains due to slow moving thunderstorms. Read More >

March 14-15 Severe Weather Event. Thank you to our storm spotters, broadcast media, and followers for your reports! A strong, early spring low pressure system brought inclement weather over a large portion of the U.S. Locally, a line of storms tracked across northern Illinois and northwest Indiana during the late evening of March 14th into the early morning hours of March 15th, bringing widespread damaging winds and even a few tornadoes. Poor air quality also occurred on March 15th as dust and smoke was blown in from wildfires and dust storms in the southern Plains. Confirmed Tornadoes: Yorkville, IL  EF-0. Bartlett - Hanover Park, IL  EF-0. Cedar Lake, IN  EF-1. Schererville - Merrillville, IN  EF-0.

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Additional event recaps can be found on the NWS Chicago Past Events Page
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