Illinois Now Faces the Biggest Tornado Risk Wednesday

The one thing you can always count on when it comes to weather is that it will constantly be changing. The huge tornado risk that is forecast for the middle of the week has now shifted to the east and is centered squarely over the heart of Illinois.

It was just yesterday when I warned that the Storm Prediction Center had doubled the tornado risk for Wednesday over Missouri. I mentioned in that article that "the NOAA Storm Prediction Center forecasters warn that the advisory area could shift as we get closer to Wednesday." Guess what? That's just happened. Here's the new advisory map which now puts the biggest danger area over the central part of Illinois. Note that it's rare for the NOAA meteorologists to put a level 4 out of 5 red advisory risk area out.

Infographic, NOAA Storm Prediction Center

As digital meteorologist Ryan Hall mentions, the red advisory area means that the Storm Prediction Center expects a tornado outbreak.

I've seen storm chasers like Adam Lucio add additional backstory into why the forecasters believe that Wednesday will be a dangerous day of storms.

Illinois has become the new heart of Tornado Alley as the state leads the nation in tornado reports this year. Wednesday will unfortunately likely up that number. It's important to note that Missouri isn't off the hook for severe weather Wednesday either. Most of the state is still under a level 3 out of 5 risk. Everyone in these advisory areas needs to make sure they have multiple ways to receive weather warnings when/if they are issued by the National Weather Service. It's going to be a long day for those that keep their eyes on the skies.