Forecasts
From Freezing at Wrigley to Severe Storms: The Great Lakes Whiplash
By Ryan Hall, Y'all Weather Desk ยท Published
Written by our automated news desk from National Weather Service data.
Opening weekend baseball and March Madness brought plenty of chills to the Midwest this weekend. Now, a surging warm front is trading those winter coats for a severe thunderstorm threat across the Great Lakes.
Evening, y'all. If you spent your weekend glued to the couch watching March Madness or shivering at an opening weekend baseball game, you are not alone. The UConn Huskies are making headlines, and baseball is officially back. But if you were sitting in the bleachers at Wrigley Field for the Nationals and Cubs game today, you probably felt that late-season chill.
Just yesterday, over 141 million of you in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic woke up to a hard freeze. Temperatures dropped into the low 20s. For context, the normal high for Chicago right now is about 47 degrees, and the normal low is 31. We were well below that.
Now, the script is flipping entirely. We are trading the winter coats for severe weather awareness.
The Monday Night Threat
Here is the setup. A strong upper-level disturbance is moving out of the Rockies and into the Plains. As it does, it is pulling a ton of warm, unstable air right back into the Great Lakes.
By late Monday night into Tuesday morning, we have a Marginal Risk of severe storms for places like Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit. The main threats overnight will be isolated large hail and gusty winds. If you live in these areas, you might get woken up by some loud thunder before your Tuesday morning commute.
Tuesday Brings a Slight Risk
By Tuesday afternoon and evening, that system slides further east. The Storm Prediction Center has upgraded parts of Lower Michigan, northern Indiana, and Ohio to a Slight Risk.
If you live in Detroit, Toledo, Fort Wayne, or Grand Rapids, you need to pay attention Tuesday. We are looking at scattered strong to severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging wind gusts and large hail.
This is the definition of spring weather whiplash. You get a historic blizzard one week, a hard freeze a few days later, and then you are tracking hail.
If you are traveling this week for the basketball tournament or just heading to work, have a way to get warnings. The weather is changing fast, and those Tuesday storms could definitely cause some delays at major airport hubs like Detroit and Chicago.
Keep your brackets handy, and keep your eyes on the sky. Have a good night.
https://ryanhallyall.com/news/from-freezing-at-wrigley-to-severe-storms-the-great-lakes-whiplash