Recent Severe Weather Events

There hasn't been as many tornado reports recently, which is great news considering all the devastation they've caused this year. However, wind and hails reports seem to be a little more common these days. That's because thunderstorms are developing in clusters or in a long line (like the one shown below that's moving through Western Iowa tonight).



These types of systems are known as Mesoscale Convective Systems or MCSs. These systems produce strong winds and large hail rather than tornadoes. That's because when thunderstorms form in a line it's more difficult for winds to rotate in the storms that would allow a tornado to form. Mesoscale Convective Systems are more likely to produce strong, straight-line winds and they are still pretty dangerous!