Stage is Set for Explosive Lightning Storms in Illinois on Sunday

How good are your surge protectors? It's a valid question if you live in Illinois as the conditions appear to be right for what could be explosive lightning storms across most of the state this weekend.

Let's start with what NOAA's Storm Prediction Center is saying about this coming weekend's weather. They have the southern two-thirds of Illinois in a slight risk (15%) of severe thunderstorms.

Internet weather celebrity Ryan Hall noticed something else about conditions that are appearing to be very favorable for explosive storm development. This is the outlook for lightning which shows Illinois in the heart of some of the craziest potential activity.

As the cold front comes through this weekend, you can see that the southern half of Illinois will have a dew point that will be ripe for volatile storm development.

When you factor in the wind, you can see that all of the necessary ingredients are there for most of Illinois to see some type of severe weather this weekend.

We're still days away, so factors can change that could increase or lessen the chance of these severe storms with lightning developing over Illinois, but NOAA's Storm Prediction Center rarely issues advisories this far ahead of time which tells me they think something significant is brewing.

Make sure you're weather aware both this Saturday and Sunday in Illinois.