Midwest braces for severe thunderstorms after unusually mild spring weather

Thunderstorms, golf-ball-sized hail and even tornadoes are all possible in the Great Lakes region beginning Tuesday evening

This week brought record-breaking warmth to Chicago, Illinois and the surrounding region — but that nice weather won’t last as the unusual warmth fuels severe thunderstorms throughout the Great Lakes.

On Monday, Chicago hit 71F, smashing the previous high-temperature record of 64F for 26 February. Tuesday could bring even higher temperatures, with forecasters predicting the Windy City could beat the all-time February record of 75F set in 1976.

Temperatures in Chicago, Illinois soared past 70F on Monday and Tuesday (Getty Images)

As Chicago temperatures soar today, a jet stream and cold front will blow into the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. As these different air temperatures collide, severe thunderstorms bringing golf-ball-sized hail and even tornadoes could develop Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

The first of the storms are set to hit northern Illinois first this evening before blowing over the Ohio River region late tonight and early tomorrow morning.

These conditions could impact travel throughout the region, particularly flights in and out of Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Road travel could also become dangerous as the storms bring the potential for snow as well.

This isn’t the first extreme weather event to hit the region this year. In January, a rare band of mesovortices formed over Lake Michigan, bringing more than three feet of lake-effect snow to Indiana.

That storm made road travel particularly dangerous because it was made up of many small swirling storms, rather than a single dominant system. With clusters like that, snowfall rates can change drastically over a short time and distance, making road conditions unpredictable.

Meanwhile, areas of ten states in the West are under winter storm warnings as of Tuesday. California could also see ten feet of snow in mountain areas later this week, according to the NWS.

California’s Mammoth Mountain Ski Area recorded several inches of snow in less than a week earlier this month (AP)

Avalanche warnings are also in place for parts of Montana. Severe weather has already triggered avalanches this year — earlier this month, emergency crews had to rescue four people after an avalanche hit the Lee Canyon ski resort in Nevada. That same week, a skier in Wyoming was seriously injured after an avalanche carried her 1,500 feet.

These blizzard conditions could sow travel chaos throughout the country. Previous severe weather events this year caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled and road conditions to become deadly.

Just last month, a severe winter storm across most of the country killed at least 89 people. Several of those deaths were caused by dangerous roads, while others were caused by fallen trees or downed power lines.