The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has placed parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley, Midwest and Great Lakes region under Enhanced Risk (Level 3 of 5) through June 11 and 12, 2026, warning that thunderstorms may produce hail larger than 5 cm (2 inches), wind gusts exceeding 120 km/h (75 mph) and several tornadoes, including a few strong tornadoes.
Heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain are unfolding across the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest on April 2, 2026, as a low-pressure system tracks northeast. A second winter storm is forecast to intensify from April 3–4, worsening the ongoing hazardous travel and increasing the risk of power outages across the Great Lakes region.
A late-season winter storm combined with severe convective activity will affect the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes from April 1–3, 2026, producing heavy snow, sleet, freezing rain, and thunderstorms. The system is expected to generate hazardous ice accumulation and support severe storms capable of damaging winds, hail, and tornadoes.
A major winter storm is affecting the Northern Plains and the western Great Lakes in the United States on March 15–16, bringing heavy snowfall, strong winds, and widespread blizzard conditions. Snowfall rates of up to 7.5 cm (3 inches) per hour and wind gusts of up to 95 km/h (60 mph) are forecast across parts of eastern South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Michigan as a strengthening low-pressure system moves toward southeastern Canada. Travel conditions are expected to become extremely dangerous across the affected region.
Life-threatening cold and wind chills are forecast to continue across the eastern half of the Lower 48 during the final week of January into early February. Another surge of Arctic air is forecast to spread from the Plains into the East and Southeast between Friday and Saturday, January 30–31, bringing a renewed threat of additional record low temperatures, including across parts of Florida.
Heavy lake-effect snow is forecast across the eastern Great Lakes region from early Thursday, November 27, through Saturday, November 29, 2025. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued Lake Effect Snow Warnings for areas in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, with totals reaching up to 50 cm (20 inches) in the most persistent snow bands.
The Great Lakes witnessed their first waterspout outbreak of the 2020 season as dozens of tornadoes were reported over the lakes for the fifth consecutive day on Wednesday, August 5, 2020. Much of the waterspouts were seen over lakes Michigan, Erie, and Ontario….
The lake-effect snow, affecting regions downwind the Great Lakes since December 8, 2016, is expected to continue into the weekend. A deadly pile up caused three deaths and several injuries in Central Michigan, so far. 40 vehicles were involved in a crash, caused by…
Fallen autumn leaves transfer as much, if not more, hazardous mercury from the atmosphere to the environment as does precipitation each year, according to recent U.S. Geological Survey research.Mercury is an environmental contaminant that accumulates in fish and food
