Andrew Pritchard

I've already written a ton about the August 11th storm observation experience documenting a morning derecho in the Chicago area and an afternoon tornado in the Champaign-Urbana, but now you can watch the entire thing and ride along as I covered the entire event in my latest Storm Observation VLOG. Check it out here:

I'm not sure how many more times I can say "man, what a day" in 2026. The whole year has become hyperbolic at this point when it comes to significant severe storms in the Midwest, and more specifically my home state of Illinois. Guidance the night before hinted that Tuesday, August 11th could be a rather volatile day across Illinois and Indiana with a potential 1-2 combination of a morning storm cluster producing significant severe weather with a second afternoon storm risk that could feature...

Another day, another highly uncertain severe thunderstorm forecast across portions of Illinois and Indiana. Social media has been screaming about a potential derecho with scary simulated radar graphics from high-resolution guidance, and while that does feel like one possible outcome, it ignores the fact that there is very little to no consistency or agreement within those models, either with other models or with their own selves and their most recent forecast. Big changes run to run, and...