UPDATED SEVERE THREAT LATER TODAY

The Storm Prediction Center has upgraded a portion of the area to a moderate risk, or a level 4 out of 5 for severe storms later today into this evening (shaded in red). This includes areas primarily south of I-80 and 80/94 locally.

The main concerns in this zone include the potential for damaging tornadoes, some potentially strong, as well as very large hail. Meanwhile, our southward moving cold front will help areas to the north of it lose the strong tornado threat, but the large hail threat exists for those locations and for all of northwest Indiana. We also all have a damaging wind threat from storms that fire later today.

So what needs to change in terms of our thinking? Nothing. These bright colors signify confidence in the forecast and in the zones that can expect the most dangerous conditions. This goes hand-in-hand with what we’ve discussed the last 2 days in our broadcasts. The plan remains the same–have a way to get location-based warnings through your apps, make sure your stuff is charged, car in the garage (due to hail threat), and hunker down late this afternoon and evening. No change vs what we talked about. You got this.

Does this mean we’ll all have severe weather? No. Will we all see a tornado? No. The atmosphere is ready to go (or getting there) and has the potential today to produce some nasty stuff. Doesn’t mean it will happen and not for everyone.

Let’s talk timing. It’s not clear. Still! Even a few hours out. Models range from 3-4pm explosive storm development–to 7-9pm explosive development. Most of it has to do with that CAP or that “lid” we talked about being in place. We are sitting with a stick of dynamite for an atmosphere…it’s lit…but no one knows how long the string is. Bottom line, be ready and we’ll get through this together this afternoon and evening…then we’ll be done!

We’ll be on standby the rest of the day and will continue to keep you updated on anything important. We’ll go LIVE for ALL WARNINGS right here on our Facebook Page and on our YouTube Channel so make sure you’re plugged in.