Picture from Sunday's Severe Storms

A CBS4 viewer and storm chaser Travis Carlson sent us this picture of a rotating wall cloud that was spotted near Kewanee, IL Sunday afternoon.  It's a pretty amazing sight!

Saturday Night's Super Moon....

Last night, the moon wasn't your ordinary full moon!  That's because it was approximately 30,000 miles closer to the Earth than normal and it was 30% brighter.  When this happens, it's known as a super moon.  But, despite some clouds last night, some folks around the QCA were able to get a glimpse of the super moon and here are their pictures.

This first picture is from Clinton and it was sent to us by Jason Heinitz.

This glimpse of the super moon is thanks to Chris Bishop of Geneseo. 

If you have any weather pictures and would like to share them with us just search for CBS4 WHBF on Facebook, Twitter, or email them to us at weather@cbs4qc.com!

Slight Risk for Severe Storms on Sunday...

The Quad Cities is under a slight risk for severe weather on Sunday.  A cold front will be pushing through the region Sunday afternoon and that could spark some storms capable of producing large hail and strong winds.  If storms do become severe, I think they'll develop between 3-5 Sunday afternoon.  We'll keep you posted all day Sunday online and on TV here at CBS4 News!

Sunset Pics

Thanks to Randy H for these great pics from tonight's sunset in Alexis, IL...can you tell which one was touched up and which one wasn't? 

The Super Moon of 2012

Saturday night (5/5/12) will be the 5th full moon of the year and actually it'll be the biggest one of the year!!  The moon revolves around the earth on an elliptical orbit.  Once a year the moon is the closest to the earth and tonight will be that time.  At 11:34 EST the moon will appear the brightest and biggest for the year.  Though it may be hard to tell with just your eyes the moon will appear 14% bigger than usually and 30% brighter.  One minute after that the moon will exactly line up with the earth and the sun, this is when the moon is at its " Perigee" (the closest to earth), so the name Perigee Moon is also used along with Super Moon.

Some wacky thing are said to happen around full moons, including dogs barking more, increased crime and higher hospital admissions.  Interestingly the word "lunacy" comes from origins relating to the moon.  The translation into Latin shows the word lunar, so maybe the old wives tales may be true.  One thing that is changed by the closer moon are the tides.  With a closer moon you could expect tides to be astronomically high and flooding to occur.  That, however, is not the case.  Tides during a perigee moon have been recorded to be higher than normal but only by 1-6 inches above the normal high tide mark. 

Sadly tonight the QCA will have cloudy skies, but if you are in an area where the skies are clear, look up at the moon tonight, since it'll be the biggest it'll be all year.

Tornado Watch This Evening

 7:30 pm update: Here is the updated map, note the Iowa counties now under a TORNADO WATCH also...

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Tornado Watch

So far so good in the QCA tonight, but that could still change!  As of 6:30 pm no storms have developed near the Quad Cities but there were a few down by Peoria, IL and a few more forming near Cedar Rapids, IA.  That's the good news - the bad news is things are still relatively ripe for t-storm development near the Quad Cities, that's why the Tornado Watch is still in effect...

Will it Rain Tonight?

As of 9:30 pm there are a couple of weak t-showers north of the Quad Cities, but our chance for rain tonight will arrive from the West.  Note the t-storms just coming together in Nebraska...they'll cross Iowa tonight and as they weaken they'll approach the QC well after midnight.  In other words, be ready for another round of t-storms by around 3-5 am on Thursday!  The good news, the storms should be weakening as they arrive!

Bears show up for a newscast!!

A TV station in Scranton, PA has a landscaped "Backyard" behind the station so live shots can be done easily. The meteorologist at the station got a surprise monday night as he was about to do a live weather report outside in the Backyard.

So, on Monday night, just before the weather segment, a mother black bear and 3 cubs entered the Backyard at WNEP.  Meteorologist Kurt Aaron said he heard a sound and turned around to see the bears only a few feet away from him.  Needless to say he did the forecast from indoors, but with some cool, live, shots of the family of bears.  The station reports that they get "critters" in the Backyard but this was the first time bears made an appearance on live television.  This is quite the uniqe experience, but it is one that we wont experience here in the QCA.

Wacky Weather

Just a quick update now that the final stats for the month of April are in...and this April DID turn out to be cooler than this March!  This year's average temperatures worked out like this:

April 52.4°
March 53.3°

As crazy as it seems it has happened before in the Quad Cities, one time in fact back in 1907...here are the numbers for that year:

April 43.0°
March 43.7°

What do you think, crazy or just a little unusual?

Warm AND Muggy Weather Coming Up

After several cooler than average days things are about to change big-time in the Quad Cities!  We're looking at highs in the 80s for the next several days, with summer-like humidity also!  Heat Index readings will approach 90° through the middle of the week...it's been a long time since we talked about the Heat Index!  With warmer weather, more humid weather and a couple fronts nearby also be on the lookout for a daily chance of showers and t-storms...