Beginning five days in advance, AccuWeather consistently predicted that a severe weather outbreak was possible across parts of Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri on Sunday, May 26.

By AccuWeather For Business, Staff

Published May 30, 2024 7:58 AM EDT | Updated Aug 30, 2024 12:29 PM EDT

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On Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, there were hundreds of damaging wind reports and several dozen tornado reports across the Ohio, Tennessee, and Mississippi Valleys. Beginning five days in advance, AccuWeather consistently predicted that a severe weather outbreak was possible across parts of Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri on Sunday, May 26. AccuWeather was the first known source to predict a "high" risk. On Saturday, a day in advance, AccuWeather's Expert Meteorologists predicted the region would have the greatest impact across western Kentucky and southern Illinois.

As the day of the outbreak unfolded, other known sources, including the government's Storm Prediction Center (SPC), significantly and incorrectly reduced the risk for severe storms across the St. Louis area only to have to revert back hours later - potentially creating confusion and resulting in a false sense of security. Numerous reports of damaging wind and hail occurred.

In just the most recent example, AccuWeather customers and users were best prepared for rapidly developing and damaging tornadoes thanks to AccuWeather's life-saving warnings, which, on many occasions, exclusively provided greater accuracy and more advance notice than those from any other known source.

Call AccuWeather's experts immediately to get AccuWeather's SkyGuard^® Warning Service to enable you to better prepare your business for severe weather.

AccuWeather customers and users were best prepared for the widespread severe thunderstorms due to the days of advance notice and the accurate forecast of the area at greatest risk.

• On Friday, AccuWeather was the first to forecast a "high" risk for severe thunderstorms on Sunday.

• On Saturday, a day in advance, AccuWeather was the only known source to accurately predict that this area of highest risk would be located across western Kentucky and southern Illinois.

• On Sunday morning, while AccuWeather consistently predicted a risk of severe thunderstorms across eastern Missouri, including the St. Louis area, the SPC abruptly and incorrectly changed their forecast to the lowest risk category (marginal). Then, just eight hours later, their forecast changed again, flip-flopping to an even greater risk level than before. This abrupt change was potentially confusing, provided conflicting messages, and may have generated a false sense of security. In contrast, AccuWeather's messaging was consistently accurate. Numerous reports of 2" or greater hail occurred in the St. Louis area, along with damaging wind gusts of 70 mph.

• AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologists issued numerous life-saving SkyGuard® Tornado Warnings, which in many cases provided significantly more advance notice than any other source. These warnings benefited AccuWeather For Business SkyGuard^® customers. Based on preliminary information, examples include:

– Eddyville, KY - AccuWeather provided an additional 16 minutes of advance notice before the tornado impacted the town. The AccuWeather SkyGuard Tornado Warning was issued at 7:31 pm CT, while the NWS Tornado Warning was issued 16 minutes later at 7:47 pm CT. The tornado occurred at 8:01 pm CT.

– Oakville, MO (just south of St. Louis) - AccuWeather's SkyGuard Tornado Warning provided an ample 37 minutes of advance notice, while the NWS Tornado Warning provided only 5 minutes of notice before the tornado hit the area. AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologists provided an additional 32 minutes of critical notice in advance of the damaging tornado.

AccuWeather's SkyGuard Severe Weather Warning Service

AccuWeather SkyGuard® Severe Weather Warning Service protects people and facilities in emergencies and communicates instantly with a high level of accuracy through multiple channels and dissemination methods, all customized to the client's needs. SkyGuard warnings provide the most accurate, proactive notification of impending threats to specific locations when severe weather threatens human lives, facilities, or business operations – 24/7, 365 days a year. AccuWeather's team of expert meteorologists develop SkyGuard warnings specifically for the severe weather threats and locations that matter to each client, including tornadoes, hail, flooding, ice, black ice, high winds, lightning, and much more. SkyGuard warnings are backed by always on-call expert consultants to help businesses and institutions make early, actionable decisions.

Call AccuWeather's experts immediately to get AccuWeather's SkyGuard^® Warning Service to enable you to better prepare your business for severe weather.

More than 100 times every year, AccuWeather has been documented as providing more accurate, more advance notification of significant and extreme weather events that impact businesses and threaten the health, welfare, and lives of individuals. AccuWeather is proven to be the most accurate source of weather forecasts and warnings.

These are additional examples of the many weather events where AccuWeather provided superior forecasts and impact descriptions to people, communities, and businesses, helping them better prepare and stay safe.

AccuWeather Forecasts Large Hail for Dallas 2 Days in Advance of Any Other Known Source