tornadoes

It was a stormy weekend in and around the Chicago, Illinois area over the weekend with confirmed tornadoes that touched down. New video shows the damage that has affected several communities.

If you're not from Missouri or Illinois, you need to understand that we do things a little differently around here. One prime example happened when some Illinois duck hunters saw a tornado nearby and decided to take selfies with it. Yes, I can prove this happened.

I'll state the obvious by saying it's the least rare thing ever to see a Midwestern tornado. However, it is quite unusual to see one spinning backwards. That's exactly what happened earlier this month.

We see thunderstorms that sometimes produce tornadoes and many that also produce lighting. One recent Midwest thunderstorm decided to overachieve by doing both simultaneously.

It's been 11 years now, but it still seems like yesterday. It was the afternoon of May 22, 2011 when a monster EF5 tornado cut a tragic swath through Joplin, Missouri and there are many that will never forget that day.

The classic understanding of "Tornado Alley" brings up images of big twisters in Oklahoma and Kansas. A new assessment by storm experts now estimates that "Tornado Alley" has moved east and now includes large parts of Missouri and Illinois.

In case you didn't know, storm chasing is a dangerous business. That reality was hammered home when a video was just shared showing a chaser's car was struck by lightning.

We always need to be aware of the potential for severe weather in the tri-states, but that's especially true for this Wednesday. There's a strong possibility many parts of our area will experience some level of severe storms beginning in the morning hours.

The series of Iowa tornadoes that devasted areas near Des Moines over the weekend now has a Missouri connection. 3 of the 7 who lost their life in those storms were from one Missouri family.

It's been a stormy day in the Midwest and for some areas tornadic. New video shows a large dangerous tornado that just roared through Des Moines, Iowa.