Tornado Danger Suddenly Just Doubled for Missouri & Illinois

As Missouri and Illinois prepare for a potentially serious thunderstorm situation this weekend, it would be a good idea to know that there is another tornado danger that seems to be skyrocketing for possibilities next week.

In today's update from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, there is an escalation of warnings for Missouri and Illinois. In their outlook for Wednesday, April 2, 2025, they have expanded the warned area and doubled the storm damage chances. What was a 15% chance yesterday has now become 30% for most of Missouri and Illinois.

Here are the exact words from the meteorologist discussion from NOAA forecasters:

"very large hail...widespread damaging winds and several tornadoes are expected, some possibly significant. Risk is expected to continue well into the evening and likely overnight"

This translates into the possibility that Missouri and Illinois could see very strong tornadoes like the one that storm chaser Reed Timmer documented near Linneus, Missouri last year.

We'll know more as we get closer to the middle of this next week, but the fact that the Storm Prediction Center has already doubled the chances of explosive thunderstorm development means they see something coming.

Make sure you have the ability to receive weather warnings at all times, but especially as these significant storm systems approach.