UPDATED 4:45 P.M.
CENTRAL ILLINOIS (25News Now) – Strong to severe storms are forecasted for our area once again and all hazards are possible.
Overview:
We’ve talked about it for a few days now and today is the day. Strong to severe thunderstorms are possible to likely across the area today but there have been a few changes in our risks. First, the severe risk for our area has slightly shifted south and east with downtown Peoria now out of the level 4 risk but Bloomington-Normal still well within that risk. Just because Peoria and a few other areas are in a level 3 however, doesn’t mean we won’t see severe weather. Storms could easily fire and grow within a level 2 or 3 risk then get even stronger as they approach areas in a level 4 risk. We should all be ready for strong storms just in case.
Tornado Watch In Effect:
We currently have a tornado watch in effect for Fulton, Mason, Tazewell, Logan, McLean, and Livingston Counties until 10 PM tonight. A tornado watch means we have the ingredients for a tornado but there is not one actively happening at this moment. There are a lot of ingredients present for tornadoes today so they can generate quickly and from storms that may look relatively unassuming on radar so it’s important to respect all warnings today. Any tornado that forms will likely be very hard to see due to the large amounts of rainfall and downpours with these storms so it’s not a day to sit on the porch and try to watch for a tornado, you likely won’t be able to see it.
Futurecast Runs:
Models have been in disagreement on what we could see through the area this evening mainly due to the storms earlier this morning and the heavy cloud cover this afternoon. Our first run of futurecast keeps the storms more separated and thus, more supercellular in nature. What that means for us at home is that the tornado potential will be a bit higher in that case but not everyone will see the storms.
Our second model is different and has the storms form up into a squall line. If that happens, our tornado risk is slightly lowered, and our wind risk becomes more likely. Both model runs have the storms our of here around 4-6 PM. They could linger a bit but the peak of the severe weather will end by then.
(Reporting by Austin Feig)
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