Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather: Significant severe weather targets 140M, after tornadoes rake Wisconsin

Weather in America: May 16, 2025

FOX Weather has you covered with the breaking forecasts and weather news headlines for your Weather in America on Friday, May 16, 2025. Get the latest from FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin.

Welcome to the Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather. It’s Friday, May 16, 2025. Start your day with everything you need to know about today's weather. You can also get a quick briefing of national, regional and local weather whenever you like with the FOX Weather Update podcast.

Renewed severe weather outbreak threatens over 140 million with strong tornadoes, extreme gusts

Another significant severe weather outbreak is unfolding across the Midwest and Ohio Valley on Friday, placing more than 143 million people under alert.

The most significant concern for Friday lies in the afternoon and evening hours, where NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center has issued a Level 4 out of 5 risk of severe weather, particularly for southern Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.  This "bull’s-eye" region faces a high potential for strong tornadoes, possibly EF-2 or stronger. 

The FOX Forecast Center notes that during the evening hours, several "bow echoes" will move through the northern Tennessee Valley, resulting in extensive wind damage in swaths as gusts exceed 75 mph.

This graphic shows the severe weather threat for May 16, 2025.

(FOX Weather)

Significant tornado damage reported in Wisconsin as severe storms roll through Minneapolis, Chicago

Communities across the Upper Midwest were cleaning up storm damage Friday morning after severe storms spawned damaging wind gusts and even a few tornadoes Thursday evening.

The cities of Juneau and Mayville, Wisconsin, around 60 miles northeast of Milwaukee, received some of the worst damage as tornado-warned storms moved through around 6 p.m. local time. Gusts around Chicago reached nearly 80 mph. 

Another wet weekend for Northeast and mid-Atlantic as severe storms crash end of week plans

A new cold front from the west will bring yet another round of rain and storms to the Northeast late Friday into Saturday. 

A Level 2 out of 5 severe thunderstorm risk exists for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Saturday up along the East Coast from North Carolina's outer banks to eastern Connecticut. 

Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City are covered in the threat.

This graphic shows the severe storm threat for Saturday, May 17, 2025.

(FOX Weather / FOX Weather)

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