What caused this week’s severe weather in Illinois

Multiple tornado and thunderstorm warnings alerted Illinois residents on Monday. A line of storms traveled 55 mph through Central Illinois with heavy rain, strong winds and thunderstorms.

 The intense winds left thousands without power Tuesday morning in parts of Chicago and northwest Indiana. Wind gusts took down several power lines and trees in the area.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Department of Climate, Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences professor Steve Nesbitt and meteorologist for Nutrien Ag Solutions, Andrew Pritchard joins us to talk about why Champaign is such an active area for severe weather and what the rest of spring will look like.

Funding for Weather Realness is partially provided by the Backlund Charitable Trust.  If you have a question for a local scientist on this program, please leave a voicemail at 217.333.2141 or email weatherrealness@illinois.edu.