Severe Weather Tracker: Midwest on High Alert for Tornadoes, Large Hail, and Dangerous Winds

Midwest Braces for Wave of Severe Thunderstorms

Folks across the Midwest can’t catch a break from the sky lately. This weekend, big storms are rolling in again with enough force to shake things up across several states. The standout risk? A severe weather outbreak ramping up on Thursday, putting major cities like Chicago directly in the storm’s crosshairs. Weather experts are sounding alarms with a Level 3 out of 5 tornado threat in the city, and that’s not something you see every week, even here.

Radar screens are a rainbow of warnings: yellow signals incoming severe thunderstorms, red flashes for tornado warnings, and purple spells confirmed twisters. These color-coded alerts show exactly how serious things are. Add in the shaded zones that pop up every three hours—these boxes plot where watch conditions are active, whether you’re staring down rough thunderstorms or bracing for spinning funnels. For those living in the warned areas, these live radar tools are a lifeline.

Communities Already Reeling, More Storms on the Horizon

If tornadoes weren’t enough, meteorologists at the FOX Forecast Center point to another threat: egg-sized hail. Think about that for a second—it’s enough to smash windows, shred roofs, and leave cars looking like the surface of the moon. On top of that, wind gusts could roar up to 75 mph, which is right in the ballpark of early-stage hurricane speeds. This isn’t your everyday thunderstorm.

Flash flood warnings add even more stress for folks already picking up the pieces from past storms. In this system, green and pink boxes on the alerts mean a flood emergency or especially dangerous situations. That’s the reality in places like Wisconsin and Oklahoma, where recovery crews haven’t even finished patching things up from the last round of storms. People there face new risks before the old ones are even cleaned up. And the bad weather isn’t just sticking to the Midwest. Storm cells are also taking aim at the Plains and the Southeast, with Memorial Day weekend looking anything but calm.

Chicago sits at the intersection of all this trouble: heavy rain, dangerous hail, the constant possibility of tornadoes, and wind gusts that can take down trees and power lines in seconds. Even folks who don’t usually pay much attention to weather alerts are finding themselves glued to real-time tracking, watching those shaded zones inch closer to home. Severe thunderstorms, spinning tornadoes, and flash flood threats will keep millions on alert as the weekend unfolds. For anyone in the warning areas, it’s time to stay tuned, have emergency plans ready, and keep tabs on those color-coded radar warnings—while hoping for some clear skies on the horizon.