National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Dangerous Heat in the Central and Eastern U.S.; Severe Thunderstorms in the Central U.S. and Northeast; Critical Fire Weather in the Four Corners

Dangerous, record-breaking heat will intensify across most of the central and eastern U.S this week. Heat indices will likely exceed 100 degrees. Severe thunderstorms are forecast from parts of the central High Plains into the Upper Midwest, and across parts of the Northeast. Critical fire weather conditions will continue across portions of the Four Corners and Great Basin. Read More >

Overview

From the evening of May 20th through mid afternoon on May 21st, several waves of thunderstorms produced tornadoes, damaging winds with gusts up to 90 mph, hail up to tennis-ball size, and extremely heavy rainfall, which resulted in considerable flash flooding and river flooding.

Six tornadoes (5 EF0 and 1 EF1) occurred with a fast-moving line of thunderstorms that moved through eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa during the early morning hours on the 21st. An additional 4 tornadoes occurred with a second round of thunderstorms (supercells) that formed over far eastern Nebraska and tracked through southwest Iowa during the late morning and early afternoon hours on the 21st. 

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Radar loop from 4 PM on May 20th through 3 PM on May 21st
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