Storms Could Explode in Missouri & Illinois Memorial Day Weekend

My hope is for you to have a fun and safe Memorial Day Weekend. You should know that if you live in Missouri or Illinois that weather over the holiday weekend could become dangerous with conditions right for explosive storm development.

Let's be clear about where this warning is coming from. It's not an official advisory from the National Weather Service in Saint Louis. This is a computer model from Colorado State University who have machine learning looking at weather patterns and conditions. Note that it correctly predicted the tragic storms that took lives in Greenfield, Iowa this week.

This is a map showing the likelihood of severe storms in Missouri and Illinois on Saturday, May 25.

Sunday looks even more dangerous with the area where severe storms could develop right over Missouri and Illinois both.

Note that the NOAA Storm Prediction Center also mentions the possibility of severe storms in Missouri and Illinois Memorial Day weekend.

Not everyone is on board with this possibility of severe weather in Missouri and Illinois as it seems like the National Weather Service in central Illinois is playing down the likelihood of severe storms.

I would agree with them that you shouldn't worry unless we get specific warnings, but I would also argue that it's great to at least be aware of the possibility before the severe weather potentially develops.

As I've stated before, sharing these models doesn't mean that severe or even tornadic storms will happen. It just means they COULD happen and I'd rather warn you now than regret it later.