4PM SEVERE WEATHER UPDATE

Headlines:

TORNADO WATCH NOW ISSUED THROUGH 10PM CT

-tornado threat has increased
-large hail threat has increased
-damaging wind threat remains the same
-timing of storms anytime after 5pm through late evening

Good Tuesday afternoon everyone–after just an incredible day weather-wise with record shattering temps in the 70s and some sunshine, we’re now getting into severe weather mode as it’s just a matter of time before storms begin to develop as this strong cold front approaches from the west.

We’ve had a cap in place (or a lid) on our atmosphere so far today as expected, but that will begin to erode over the next few hours giving way to rapid development of thunderstorms, likely to our west. These storms will be scattered, so there’s still a chance some of us don’t see storms at all…but the storms that do develop will be working with a primed, high shear environment and will likely take the form of discrete supercells initially.

Our HAIL threat has really increased with colder air aloft being realized with hail potentially the size of baseballs possible across Illinois and Indiana. We still have a tornado threat and it’s gone up a bit since we chatted last night. All of this in addition to heavy rain, lightning, and damaging wind potential. Again, there’s a chance not everyone will see this tonight–but the storms that develop will be potent and we’ll be tracking their development over the next few hours.