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Heat Wave Expands to the East Coast; Flash Flooding Likely in the Central Plains into the Midwest; Severe Thunderstorms in the Northeast

Dangerous, prolonged heat is ongoing in the Mid-South to Mid-Mississippi Valley and heat expands into the Northeast for a brief period today. Widely scattered instances of flash flooding due to heavy rains are forecast from northeast Kansas to much of Indiana. Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms are possible across parts of New England, northern Mid-Atlantic, and North Dakota. Read More >

Overview

During the day Wednesday, May 22, a warm front lifted across northern Illinois and Indiana ushering in much warmer and more humid air than was in place during the previous two days. By the evening, an approaching cold front and upper level disturbances were able to tap into this warm and humid airmass to support the development of thunderstorms. Strong winds aloft helped some of these storms become organized into supercells and bowing lines, which both are excellent at producing wind damage and even tornadoes. During the late evening, the Storm Prediction Center issued a Tornado Watch for portions of northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, at the far northeastern end of a broad area of severe storms stretching across the Midwest. Fortunately for the local area the tornado threat did not become widespread, but both Tornado Warnings and Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued during the overnight hours. Multiple reports of wind damage were received.  

Radar image for May 22-23, 2019
Preliminary Storm Reports
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