The weather in the central U.S. has turned crazy! There are winter storm warnings in the northern tier of states, there are wind advisories on the map and then there's severe weather in Nebraska and Kansas. This map shows just how crazy it's getting. In this view, there's hardly a spot that isn't either currently affected or will be soon.
The winter weather is expected to continue across the Great Lakes and up into New England Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning. Parts of Wisconsin could see 8-12 inches, New York state could see 3-6 inches and up around Concord, New Hampshire is likely to see nearly a foot of snow.
The severe weather is expected to march through Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky through the overnight hours tonight and up through the Ohio Valley on Wednesday. This will push eventually into the mid-Atlantic region bringing a chance for severe weather into the nation's capital.
While a large portion of the country struggles with a heat wave, the upper midwest will be dealing with the possibility of strong storms later today and tomorrow. While tornadoes are possible, the main threat looks to be strong winds and hail.
Day 1 Convective Outlook (also showing current temperatures)
Day 2 Convective Outlook
With any luck, the storms won't do any damage and may provide a brief respite for the upper midwest from the oppressive heat.
Some recent heat related records/stats:
- Bowling Green, KY (new high for 7/27) of 109°F (old record of 108°F had stood since 1930)
- Dallas, TX (new high minimum temperature all time) of 86°F on 7/26
- Speaking of Dallas, they are currently in the middle of their 3rd longest streak (ever) of 100+ days - currently at 25 (record 42)
- New York City used 1 Trillion Watt Hours of electricity over a 4 day heat wave last week (equals Vermont's total for 2 normal months)
- Wichita Falls, TX (new high minimum temperature all time) of 88°F (old record was 83°F in 1952) on 7/26