The prolonged tornado outbreak that has tracked across the central United States narrowed to five confirmed touchdowns in its latest phase, the Storm Prediction Center reported, as the atmospheric pattern responsible for days of elevated tornado activity continued to weaken.
Confirmed tornadoes struck across four states. Near Medicine Bow, Wyoming, two separate tornadoes were documented at approximately 3 miles east-southeast of the community. A third touched down 3 miles west-southwest of Huntley, Illinois, in the northeastern part of the state. Colorado recorded a tornado 2 miles north-northwest of Fleming on the northeastern plains. Louisiana’s entry — 1 mile west of Plain Dealing in the state’s northwestern corner — marked the southernmost confirmed point of the activity.
Five touchdowns represent a continued steep decline from the outbreak’s recent trajectory. The Storm Prediction Center confirmed 11 the previous day, and 55 in the 48-hour period before that. What had been a high-output, multistate severe weather event has contracted steadily in both tornado count and geographic spread, pulling back from a six-state footprint that had included Texas and Pennsylvania.
Tornadoes, however, represent only part of the damage picture. Over the same 48-hour window, the Storm Prediction Center logged 106 large hail reports and 150 damaging wind events across the region. Those numbers underscore the broader severe weather burden on communities from the Rocky Mountain foothills to the Gulf Coast — hail and straight-line wind can cause significant structural and agricultural damage even where no tornado touches ground.
Active alerts from the National Weather Service remained in place across portions of Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, and Wyoming, though meteorologists indicated the primary tornado threat had largely passed for most affected areas.
Residents in northern Illinois, including those in the outer reaches of the Chicago weather metro, should note that the Huntley-area tornado placed confirmed activity at the metropolitan fringe. In northwest Louisiana, the confirmed report west of Plain Dealing positioned storm activity within the broader Shreveport weather region, where residents should monitor any follow-up statements from the National Weather Service.
The National Weather Service has not issued new outbreak-level watches, suggesting the pattern driving this multi-day tornado sequence is dissipating. Forecasters will continue to assess residual atmospheric instability as the system progresses east and convective energy diminishes through the remainder of the week.