An area of low pressure was in place across northeastern Illinois during the afternoon hours on Thursday, August 1, 2024. An associated warm front lifted across the Ohio Valley from late morning into the afternoon, allowing for an influx of hot, moist air across the region. By late morning into midday, a line of damaging storms developed across Illinois ahead of the cold front and moved across southern Indiana and Kentucky through the afternoon into the evening. The Storm Prediction Center issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch around 1 pm CDT for the aforementioned areas.

As the line of damaging storms moved across southern Illinois, southern Indiana, and Kentucky, multiple Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and Tornado Warnings were issued. By the time the storms ended that evening, over 100 damaging wind reports had been received.

Further north, heavy thunderstorms developed across central Indiana, around the Indianapolis area. These storms were slow-moving to nearly stationary at times. As these storms tapped into a very moist environment, several inches of rain fell locally across central Indiana, prompting Flash Flood Warnings. Areas near Noblesville, Indiana, received 5.28 inches of rain in a very short period.

On the northeast side of Indianapolis, over 2 inches of rain fell. This quickly caused significant ponding and flooding. Interstate 465 on the northeast side of Indianapolis rapidly flooded, making the road impassable and causing some motorists to get stranded in the floodwaters!

A late summer heat wave occurred across portions of the Midwest on August 26-27, allowing a dangerously hot and humid air mass to build across the region. Afternoon heat index values soared above 100° F for many locations.

Aloft, an anomalously strong upper-level ridge built across the Midwest on August 26-27. Under this ridge, a dangerously hot and humid airmass was in place. As moisture surged in from the south, pooling in the anomalously warm air, dew points climbed into the 70s to even low 80s! This caused 100-115° heat indexes across portions of Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri on August 26. On August 27, the heart of the heat shifted east across eastern Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, and southern Michigan, where heat indexes once again climbed to around 105-120°! Many daily record high temperatures were broken across the region during this time!

An area of low pressure moved across Minnesota throughout the day on Thursday, August 29. A warm front moved across Minnesota and portions of Wisconsin, followed by a trailing cold front. In the warm sector of the storm system, warm air and dew points surged in on a southeast flow. The warm, humid air mass created significant instability for afternoon thunderstorms.

Severe thunderstorms developed ahead of the cold front across central Minnesota around 1:30 pm CDT, turning severe by 2:30 pm. As damaging winds moved through, multiple Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued for the Twin Cities area. Several Tornado Warnings were issued across Minnesota and western Wisconsin. In total, 10 tornadoes were reported. Multiple instances of wind damage occurred across the region, with large trees toppled over, powerlines downed, and even flipped campers!

The hurricane season got off to a strong start for the tropical Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Beryl formed, quickly intensifying into a Category 5 hurricane, breaking many records as it did! While Beryl made landfall as a much weaker Category 1 storm in Texas, its impacts were felt from the Gulf all the way into New England.

While the remnants of Beryl moved into portions of southern Illinois, central and southern Indiana, and Kentucky late in the evening on July 8th into the morning of July 9, 2024, the worst of the activity did not start until mid to late afternoon. The center of circulation from the tropical remnants moved roughly from Evansville to Indianapolis to Fort Wayne, Indiana, placing portions of the region in the dreaded right-front quadrant of the storm where wind shear and tornado potential are increased.

Due to the increased tornado threat, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) placed portions of southern Indiana and northern Kentucky at an Enhanced risk of severe weather. At 3:05 pm EDT, the SPC issued Tornado Watch #516 across southern Illinois, southern Indiana, much of Kentucky, southwest Ohio, and portions of Tennessee.

^{Several Tornado Warnings were issued across Tennessee and Kentucky through the afternoon on July 9th. A spotter confirmed a tornado near Uniontown, KY shortly before 5 pm EDT. This storm tracked north/northeast across the Ohio River, producing a strong tornado near Mount Vernon, Indiana. This was one of 15 confirmed tornadoes across the region but was the strongest, rated an EF-3 with maximum winds of 140 mph.}

^{The remnants of Beryl also produced heavy rainfall across several states from the Mississippi River Valley all the way into the Great Lakes region! A large swath of 2-5 inches of rain was observed from the St. Louis, MO area northeast across central Illinois, northern Indiana, and south/central Michigan. This caused flooding across many locations in that region.}

A strong upper-level trough moved across the Upper Midwest throughout the day and into the evening on July 15th. At the surface, an area of low pressure moved from the Omaha, Nebraska area across Iowa and into southwest Wisconsin, deepening as it did. A warm front lifted across Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, allowing a warm, moist, unstable atmosphere to spread across the region. The Storm Prediction Center placed an Enhanced risk across portions of eastern Iowa, northern Illinois, northern Indiana, and southern Michigan. However, this was upgraded to a Moderate risk at 3 pm EDT for eastern Iowa, northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and northwestern Indiana, with a 45% probability of damaging winds (some exceeding 75 mph!).

Storms began developing across central Iowa around 2:30 pm CDT, prompting the SPC to issue Severe Thunderstorm Watch #539 across much of Iowa into western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. Storms rapidly turned severe, producing damaging winds and hail.

By 5 pm CDT, a line of thunderstorms had developed across Iowa, prompting numerous Severe Thunderstorm Warnings. This line quickly moved across southern Wisconsin and Illinois late in the afternoon into the evening, promoting a Tornado Watch across southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois, northwest Indiana, and southwest Michigan.

^{The line of damaging thunderstorms continued to strengthen across Illinois, with numerous Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Warnings issued along its path. Several tornadoes were confirmed, and a wind gust of 105 mph was reported in Marshall County, Illinois!}

^{As the line of thunderstorms moved into the Chicago area, several Tornado Warnings were issued. Multiple confirmed tornadoes touched down across the Chicagoland area, with one near O’Hare International Airport!}

^{However, this was not the end of these storms. Severe thunderstorms continued to produce tornadoes, significant damaging winds, and heavy rainfall late into the evening as they raced across central Illinois, along with central and northern Indiana.}

^{By the end of the event, over half a million people were without power across portions of Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan! A total of 978 reports of severe weather were documented during this day, with 58 tornadoes! Local NWS agencies are still adding more tornadoes to the count as additional data comes in. Overall, this was a devastating and impactful event across the region, officially classified as a derecho}

A warm front moved across Illinois and Indiana during the afternoon and into the evening on July 29th. After morning rain and clouds moved out of the region, sunshine coupled with very moist air allowed for the atmosphere to rapidly destabilize. Winds strengthening and turning with height allowed ample wind shear across the region, enabling the storms that did develop to rotate.

Storms developed across central Illinois and central Indiana around 6-7 pm. However, it wasn’t until after 8 pm that the first Tornado Warnings were issued in east-central Indiana and central Indiana. These would not be the last, as several more Tornado Warnings were issued throughout the evening across Illinois, Indiana, and western Ohio.

So far, there have been 6 tornado reports across IL/IN/OH, with additional storm surveys to come. The strongest tornado occurred in Hamilton and Madison Counties in Indiana. This is where an EF-2 tornado occurred with estimated peak winds of 130 mph!

The hurricane season got off to a strong start for the tropical Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Beryl formed, quickly intensifying into a Category 5 hurricane, breaking many records as it did! While Beryl made landfall as a much weaker Category 1 storm in Texas, its impacts were felt from the Gulf all the way into New England.

While the remnants of Beryl moved into portions of southern Illinois, central and southern Indiana, and Kentucky late in the evening on July 8th into the morning of July 9, 2024, the worst of the activity did not start until mid to late afternoon. The center of circulation from the tropical remnants moved roughly from Evansville to Indianapolis to Fort Wayne, Indiana, placing portions of the region in the dreaded right-front quadrant of the storm where wind shear and tornado potential are increased.

Due to the increased tornado threat, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) placed portions of southern Indiana and northern Kentucky at an Enhanced risk of severe weather. At 3:05 pm EDT, the SPC issued Tornado Watch #516 across southern Illinois, southern Indiana, much of Kentucky, southwest Ohio, and portions of Tennessee.

^{Several Tornado Warnings were issued across Tennessee and Kentucky through the afternoon on July 9th. A spotter confirmed a tornado near Uniontown, KY shortly before 5 pm EDT. This storm tracked north/northeast across the Ohio River, producing a strong tornado near Mount Vernon, Indiana. This was one of 15 confirmed tornadoes across the region but was the strongest, rated an EF-3 with maximum winds of 140 mph.}

^{The remnants of Beryl also produced heavy rainfall across several states from the Mississippi River Valley all the way into the Great Lakes region! A large swath of 2-5 inches of rain was observed from the St. Louis, MO area northeast across central Illinois, northern Indiana, and south/central Michigan. This caused flooding across many locations in that region.}

A strong upper-level trough moved across the Upper Midwest throughout the day and into the evening on July 15th. At the surface, an area of low pressure moved from the Omaha, Nebraska area across Iowa and into southwest Wisconsin, deepening as it did. A warm front lifted across Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, allowing a warm, moist, unstable atmosphere to spread across the region. The Storm Prediction Center placed an Enhanced risk across portions of eastern Iowa, northern Illinois, northern Indiana, and southern Michigan. However, this was upgraded to a Moderate risk at 3 pm EDT for eastern Iowa, northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and northwestern Indiana, with a 45% probability of damaging winds (some exceeding 75 mph!).

Storms began developing across central Iowa around 2:30 pm CDT, prompting the SPC to issue Severe Thunderstorm Watch #539 across much of Iowa into western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. Storms rapidly turned severe, producing damaging winds and hail.

By 5 pm CDT, a line of thunderstorms had developed across Iowa, prompting numerous Severe Thunderstorm Warnings. This line quickly moved across southern Wisconsin and Illinois late in the afternoon into the evening, promoting a Tornado Watch across southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois, northwest Indiana, and southwest Michigan.

^{The line of damaging thunderstorms continued to strengthen across Illinois, with numerous Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Warnings issued along its path. Several tornadoes were confirmed, and a wind gust of 105 mph was reported in Marshall County, Illinois!}

^{As the line of thunderstorms moved into the Chicago area, several Tornado Warnings were issued. Multiple confirmed tornadoes touched down across the Chicagoland area, with one near O’Hare International Airport!}

^{However, this was not the end of these storms. Severe thunderstorms continued to produce tornadoes, significant damaging winds, and heavy rainfall late into the evening as they raced across central Illinois, along with central and northern Indiana.}

^{By the end of the event, over half a million people were without power across portions of Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan! A total of 978 reports of severe weather were documented during this day, with 58 tornadoes! Local NWS agencies are still adding more tornadoes to the count as additional data comes in. Overall, this was a devastating and impactful event across the region, officially classified as a derecho}

A warm front moved across Illinois and Indiana during the afternoon and into the evening on July 29th. After morning rain and clouds moved out of the region, sunshine coupled with very moist air allowed for the atmosphere to rapidly destabilize. Winds strengthening and turning with height allowed ample wind shear across the region, enabling the storms that did develop to rotate.

Storms developed across central Illinois and central Indiana around 6-7 pm. However, it wasn’t until after 8 pm that the first Tornado Warnings were issued in east-central Indiana and central Indiana. These would not be the last, as several more Tornado Warnings were issued throughout the evening across Illinois, Indiana, and western Ohio.

So far, there have been 6 tornado reports across IL/IN/OH, with additional storm surveys to come. The strongest tornado occurred in Hamilton and Madison Counties in Indiana. This is where an EF-2 tornado occurred with estimated peak winds of 130 mph!

A strong area of low pressure moved across the northern tier of the United States on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. The associated cold front swept across the Ohio Valley region throughout the day. Strong dynamics were in place ahead of the front in the storm system’s warm sector, prompting an Enhanced Risk of severe weather across much of Indiana and western Ohio. This risk included the threat for strong tornadoes.

At 2:25 pm EDT, a Tornado Watch was issued for portions of eastern Illinois and Indiana as storms began to develop. It didn’t take long for severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings to be issued as the storms moved ahead of the front, stretching from southern Wisconsin to western Indiana.

Severe weather persisted across Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan into the afternoon and evening hours. Tornado Emergencies were declared for Kalamazoo, Michigan and surrounding areas after a large and extremely dangerous tornado was observed.

By the time severe weather exited the region late in the evening on the 7th, 72 tornadoes had been reported across the United States, with most of them occurring in the Ohio Valley. The tornado that impacted Kalamazoo, Michigan, was rated an EF-2 with 135 mph maximum winds and was on the ground for 11 miles.

Another significant tornado outbreak occurred on May 21st across southeastern Nebraska, Iowa, southern Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconsin, impacting some of the same areas hit by the April 26th tornado outbreak. The Storm Prediction Center outlined a Moderate Risk of severe weather, including a 15% probability of tornadoes, some of which could be strong.

At 11:10 am CDT, the first Tornado Watch was issued across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, lasting until 5 PM CDT. Later, at 1:10 PM CDT, a rare Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) Tornado Watch was issued for much of Iowa, southeast Minnesota, and far northwestern Illinois, indicating the possibility of several tornadoes, including a few intense. Additional Tornado Watches were issued east of these locations later in the afternoon and evening.

Storms initiated across eastern Nebraska in the early afternoon, moving eastward. At 3:05 pm CDT, a tornado was reported near Corning, Iowa. This storm continued northeast into Adair County, Iowa. At 3:41 pm, radar confirmed a large tornado impacting the town of Greenfield, Iowa, as a debris ball on radar reflectivity and CC dropout could be seen via NEXRAD Dual-Pol radar scans. By 3:45 pm, reports of damage in the city of Greenfield, IA were received.

Storms persisted to the east and northeast through the afternoon, with numerous reports of tornadoes and damaging winds from Nebraska to Illinois and Wisconsin. Overall, 48 tornadoes were reported, along with 431 instances of damaging winds. However, none were hit harder than the town of Greenfield, Iowa. This tornado was rated an EF-4 with maximum winds of 175-185 mph and was on the ground for 44 miles. 35 injuries and 5 deaths were reported in association with this tornado.

A line of severe storms developed across portions of the Central Plains on Thursday, May 23, 2024, and moved across eastern Nebraska, Iowa, and northern Illinois through the morning hours on Friday, May 24, 2024. This line of thunderstorms prompted Severe Thunderstorm Watches to be issued from Nebraska east to Illinois.

Around 2:30 AM on May 24th, a powerful line of severe thunderstorms moved across the eastern Nebraska area into western Iowa, then continued across Iowa through 8:15 am before entering Illinois. Numerous Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Warnings were issued as this line of storms moved across the state.

As the line of severe storms reached northern Illinois after sunrise, it continued to produce severe/damaging winds and tornadoes. However, by 9:30 am, the line had weakened considerably. A swath of damaging winds and tornadoes was reported from western Nebraska through western Illinois from the 23rd through the 24th of May, resulting in a total of 801 severe weather reports for the combined days!

The initial round of rain and thunderstorms moved across the Tennessee Valley through the morning hours on Sunday, May 26th, prompting multiple severe weather Watches and Warnings. One of the big stories of the day was a Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued for Indianapolis, Indiana, where the Indy 500 was about to begin. The incoming thunderstorms forced the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people in the stands until lightning cleared the area several hours later.

The more significant round of severe weather occurred later in the afternoon and evening hours, stretching from Missouri across southern Illinois, southern Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. At 4 PM CDT, the SPC issued another rare Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) Tornado Watch across southeastern Missouri, southwestern/southern Illinois, northern Arkansas, far western Kentucky, and northwest Tennessee, lasting until 11 PM. This was the fourth PDS Tornado Watch issued for the month of May! Additional Tornado and Severe Thunderstorm watches were issued across the region as the evening wore on.

By 7 PM CDT, a line of powerful storms had developed across southern Illinois into southeastern Missouri, prompting Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Warnings. However, discrete supercells also formed ahead of the line across southern Illinois and western Kentucky, leading to multiple severe weather warnings and reports!

Storms continued to march east-southeast through the evening, leaving a trail of destruction behind them. This day featured 65 tornado reports, 1016 severe wind reports, and a total of 1384 severe weather reports!

April started with a bang across the Midwest, featuring an Enhanced severe weather risk across central and southern portions of Illinois and Indiana, extending into far southwest Ohio. This was due to an area of low pressure moving across the Kansas City area and a warm front extending across the Ohio Valley.

The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issued a Tornado Watch across central and south-central Illinois at 4:50 PM CDT on April 1st, and a Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued that evening across central and south-central Indiana into southwest Ohio. During this time, a round of storms moved across southern portions of the Ohio Valley, prompting Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Warnings. Several tornadoes were reported across southern Illinois and southwestern Indiana. However, the bigger story could be how this overnight convection impacted severe weather the next day.

A Moderate risk of severe weather was outlined across southeastern Indiana, northern Kentucky, and portions of Ohio on April 2nd. While damaging winds and large hail were expected, the possibility of strong tornadoes existed due to a very strong upper-level trough bringing powerful jet-stream winds through the region. Coupled with high levels of moisture and instability, this created a dangerous environment for severe thunderstorms.

However, the thunderstorms from the night before lingered through the morning hours on April 2nd. Morning analysis indicated that these storms essentially removed moisture from the environment across much of the Ohio Valley. Without sufficient time to destabilize into the afternoon, the focus of the most severe weather shifted closer to and south of the Ohio River. Although 60 tornadoes and 153 damaging wind reports were received, the primary impact was felt south of much of the region.

On the back side of the system that brought severe weather to the Ohio Valley, a late shot of cold air moved in. As this caught up with the area of moisture on the back side of the low-pressure center that was occluding across Lake Michigan, snow began to fall across portions of the Upper Midwest. Winter Storm Warnings were issued across much of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan, with late-season Blizzard Warnings issued for some counties in Michigan’s U.P. By the time the winter storm ended, 4-10 inches of snow had fallen across Wisconsin, with up to 33 inches reported in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan!

Over five consecutive days, severe weather occurred across the heart of the country, starting on April 14th and continuing through April 18th. Three of these five days featured Enhanced Risks of severe thunderstorms, while the other two days saw Slight Risks. Throughout the entire event, the 17th and 18th produced most of the severe weather, with 241 severe weather reports on April 17th and 175 reports on April 18th. Thirteen tornadoes were reported from the St. Louis area into central Illinois late afternoon into the evening on April 18th.

The most impactful event of the month unfolded across eastern Nebraska and Iowa on April 26, 2024. During the morning into the afternoon, a strong area of low pressure moved north-northeast across the region, allowing for a warm front and dryline to intersect in association with the low. This convergence is known as a triple point.

The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) outlined an Enhanced risk of severe weather for eastern Nebraska, western portions of Iowa, northwest Missouri, and northeast Kansas. Within the same area, a 10% probability of tornadoes was highlighted, with some of those tornadoes potentially being strong. At 12:55 PM CDT, the SPC issued a Tornado Watch across eastern Nebraska, far northern Kansas, far northeastern Missouri, and far western Iowa. By 1:45 PM, Tornado Warnings were being issued in southeastern Nebraska.

These same supercell storms that developed along the dryline in Nebraska continued to move north-northeast through the afternoon, producing large, destructive tornadoes across southeastern Nebraska into western Iowa later that day and evening. Tornado Emergencies were declared for the Elkhorn and Bennington, Nebraska areas as a large tornado moved through heavily populated regions north of Omaha. A textbook debris ball was visible on radar as it swept through the populous area!

As of April 30, 2024, 99 tornadoes were reported for that day (a few were further south in Texas). Several of these tornadoes were rated EF-3. Notably, the tornado that passed through Bennington, Nebraska had estimated peak winds of 165 mph and was on the ground for 31.2 miles! Despite major damage and numerous injuries, there was thankfully only a single fatality from Friday’s major tornado outbreak.