Chilly entrance kicks up winds, brings likelihood for extreme climate

I’M AMY LU. ALL RIGHT. GET THOSE TAXES DONE. AND LET’S TURN TO OUR FORECAST WITH CHIEF METEOROLOGIST KEVIN ROBINSON. WILD NIGHT HERE FOR THE WEATHER DEPARTMENT. YEAH, IT’S QUITE WINDY OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW. SO YOU KNOW SOMETHING’S GOING ON WITH THE WEATHER. WE’VE GOT ANOTHER POTENT, YOU KNOW, LATE WINTER, EARLY SPRING STORM WRAPPING ITS WAY UP THROUGH THE MIDWEST TONIGHT. AND AS WE ANTICIPATED, YOU CAN SEE THE ACTIVE SKIES I MEAN LIT UP WITH LIGHTNING ACROSS PARTS OF ILLINOIS. NOW SOON TO BE MOVING INTO INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY. SO THIS IS THE POTENT SPRING STORM AND THE SEVERE WEATHER, WITH NUMEROUS WARNINGS OUT THERE OCCURRING EXACTLY WHERE WE THOUGHT THE HIGHEST RISK WOULD BE HERE IN ILLINOIS, MOVING INTO WESTERN INDIANA WITH THIS ENHANCED RISK. NOW, NOTICE THE TRI-STATE FINDS ITSELF ON THE EASTERN FRINGE OF THIS SEVERE THREAT, BASICALLY STRADDLING THE FENCE BETWEEN THE MARGINAL AND SLIGHT RISK. SO WHAT WE’RE THINKING WILL HAPPEN IS, AS THESE STORMS HAVE IGNITED OUT HERE, THEY WILL RUN EAST, BUT THEN THEY’RE GOING TO GET INTO A LESS FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT AS THEY COME IN OUR DIRECTION. SO I THINK THERE’S GOING TO BE PRETTY RAPID WEAKENING ONCE THEY BEGIN TO CROSS CENTRAL INDIANA OR THE I CORRIDOR. OF COURSE, THE UNKNOWN IS EXACTLY HOW FAST WILL THEY WEAKEN AS THEY MOVE INTO OUR AREA. THAT’S THAT’S THE REASON WHY WE HAVE THE MARGINAL TO SLIGHT RISK FOR STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS ACROSS OUR NECK OF THE WOODS, BUT THAT’S NOT GOING TO COME INTO PLAY REALLY UNTIL AFTER 9:00. BEFORE THEN, IT’S JUST SIMPLY GOING TO BE A WINDY. AND I EVEN SAY DUSTY EVENING AROUND HERE, BECAUSE IF YOU GO OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW AND LOOK, YOU’LL NOTICE OUR SKIES ARE AWFULLY KIND OF BROWNISH. AND THAT’S BECAUSE THIS STORM HAS BASICALLY SUCKED IN A LOT OF DUST OUT OF THE SOUTHWEST, AND IS SWEEPING IT ACROSS OUR REGION, ALONG WITH THOSE STORMS AND TIME. SO HERE’S A LOOK AT FUTURECAST. I’LL WALK YOU THROUGH THIS EVENING. THERE’S 8:00, THE STORMS OUT TO OUR WEST BEGIN TO APPROACH SOUTHEAST INDIANA. THEY’LL MOVE INTO SOUTHEAST INDIANA AROUND NINE. AGAIN, THE GREATEST CONCERN FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE FARTHER WEST ACROSS THE TRI-STATE. SO YOU HAVE A BETTER SHOT AT SEEING A SEVERE THREAT IN SOUTHEAST INDIANA, LET’S SAY, THAN SOMEONE THAT’S EAST OF CINCINNATI. HERE’S 10:00. SO WE’RE TALKING 10 TO 11 MOVING INTO THE METRO BY MIDNIGHT. THEY’RE STARTING TO SHIFT THEIR WAY EAST. AND THIS IS A QUICK THREAT HERE. IT DOESN’T LAST LONG. IT’S NOT AN ALL NIGHT EVENT BECAUSE BY 1 OR 2, THE THREAT IS OUT OF HERE. AND IT WILL BE DRY BY THE TIME YOU WAKE UP ON THURSDAY MORNING. HOWEVER, IT WILL NOT FEEL LIKE THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING BECAUSE WHILE IT MAY START DRY, WINDY, COLD, FALLING TEMPERATURES TOMORROW AND THERE WILL LIKELY BE A FEW RAIN AND OR SNOW SHOWERS, NOT A BIG DEAL, BUT CERTAINLY NOT FEELING LIKE SPRING FOR US. AND THEN SKIES CLEAR UP TOMORROW NIGHT AND IT’S GOING TO TURN AWFULLY CHILLY FOR US. SO THE PRIMARY CONCERN CONTINUES TO BE STRONG WINDS. THE TORNADO THREAT REMAINS AWFULLY LOW, BUT IT’S NOT ZERO. ALONG WITH CORRESPONDING HAIL THREATS. AND THESE STORMS ARE GOING TO BE MOVING SO FAST. HEAVY RAIN WON’T BE MUCH OF AN ISSUE. AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE INGREDIENTS NECESSARY FOR SEVERE WEATHER, THEY DO HAVE SOME COMPONENTS. FOR EXAMPLE, WITH THE WIND SHEAR, YOU KNOW THAT BY HOW WINDY IT IS OUT THERE. BUT WITH THE LACK OF INSTABILITY AND MOISTURE, THESE TWO ARE SIGNIFICANT FEATURES THAT KEEP THE SEVERE THREAT IN A MARGINAL TO SLIGHT RISK RANGE. AT BEST. SO AGAIN, STILL A LITTLE BIT IN TERMS OF QUESTION, HOW STRONG THOSE STORMS WILL BE WHEN THEY ARRIVE AFTER 9:00 INTO THE TRI-STATE. SO IT’S A LITTLE BIT OF A CONDITIONAL SEVERE THREAT. BASICALLY, I MENTIONED THE HAZINESS TO THE SKIES. LOOK AT THIS. YOU CAN SEE IT HERE FROM TOWERCAM. LOOK HOW GRAYISH THE SKIES ARE. THAT’S DUST ALL THE WAY FROM NEW MEXICO. WE’RE TALKING OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS TONIGHT. IT’S 67 OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW. REMEMBER I SAID MOISTURE IS LIMITED. LOOK AT OUR DEW POINT. ONLY AROUND 50. YOU’D LIKE TO GET THAT ABOVE 55. CLOSER TO 60 FOR MORE SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER. SO AGAIN THAT’S ONE OF THE MITIGATING FACTORS FOR CONCERN THIS EVENING. TEMPERATURES AREA WIDE ARE WARM. LOOK AT THAT 71 IN KENWOOD. IT’S NICE UNTIL LATER ON TONIGHT. SO EVENING STORMS AFTER NINE WINDY. IT DOES TURN COLDER LATE BY MORNING. WE’LL GET INTO THE UPPER 30S 59. THAT IS YOUR HIGH AT MIDNIGHT. TEMPERATURES WILL BE MUCH COLDER DURING THE DAY. AS YOU SEE. WE’LL HOLD PRETTY STEADY IN THE LOW 40S ALL DAY TOMORROW AND WITH BRISK WINDS IT WILL FEEL LIKE IT’S AROUND FREEZING OR BELOW. WE’LL GET DOWN TO 26 TOMORROW NIGHT. QUIET WEATHER IN HERE FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, AND THEN ANOTHER RUN AT MAYBE SOME RAIN AND POSSIBLE THUNDER IN HER