National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Severe Weather and Heavy Rainfall from the Midwest to the Ohio Valley; Mid-Summer Heat Continues

Severe thunderstorm and heavy rainfall threats will persist from the Midwest to Lower Great Lakes through Monday, shifting into the Ohio Valley and Central Appalachians Monday evening into Tuesday. Mid-summer heat will continue across much of the CONUS this week, with record highs possible well into the 100s across the south-central High Plains. Read More >

Windy Balloon Launch: 7/17/18

On Tuesday, July 17th decaying thunderstorms to the northwest of Grand Junction produced gusty outflow winds across the Grand Valley. The Grand Junction Regional Airport measured a peak wind gust of 70 mph at 4:10 PM MDT! Those strong winds persisted over the next hour and, by the time we sent up our weather balloon at 5:00 PM gusts were up to 58 MPH. Weather balloons are launched at various locations all across the world twice a day, every day, under a wide variety of conditions. We won't launch if there's lightning nearby but otherwise it's fair game! Check out the video of the balloon launch below!

Meteorologist Jimmy Fowler launches the evening weather balloon in 58 MPH winds