DAMN MISERABLE WEATHER!

This is my 74th Spring and it's the most miserable one I can remember.

Thunderstorms will arrive with Donnie and some of those storms could be severe tonight with large hail and damaging winds.

We're also looking at one to three inches of heavy rain this afternoon through tomorrow evening.  This, of course, could mean more flooding.

THE WEATHER IS TOO GOOD TO LAST

Finally, for a change, a sunny day, a light breeze and temperatures in the 60's.

I made a "pill stroll" over to Walgreen's and it felt so good being out in shirt sleeves.

But, it's too good to last.  There are some scattered thunderstorms moving our way from Iowa and we could see some of that this afternoon and tonight.  We could see some storms with small hail and gusty winds.

IF YOU LIKE RAIN YOU'LL LOVE LA CROSSE

The weatherman says there's a GOOD CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS FROM TODAY INTO MONDAY.

A few of the thunderstorms, tomorrow night, could be strong to severe through Northeast Iowa and Southwest Wisconsin.  LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS will be the mail threats.

STORMY WEATHER

Golfball-sized hail occurred around 715 am in Hayfield MN, southwest of Rochester. #rocmn #mnwx
— NWS La Crosse (@NWSLaCrosse) May 7, 2014

YESTERDAYS HAIL

The largest hail to fall Saturday had a diameter of 2 inches and was reported in Kansas, Iowa, and Illinois.
— AccuWeather.com (@breakingweather) April 13, 2014

FROM WKBT

Michelle Poedel ‏@news8michelle · 8m Hail on Main St. in La Crosse via Bob Good. #wiwx pic.twitter.com/v4CrJvdign

HAIL STONES AROUND RUSHFORD

@RandyBrock @news8michelle #hailing again in #Rushford -pea size this time pic.twitter.com/C4ELarvdbR
— Michael (@maevenson) April 12, 2014

HAIL STORM!

We just had ONE HAIL OF A STORM move through this morning.  I think this is just about the worst I've seen since I lived here.

The hail was beating on the windows so hard I couldn't hear anything else.  Thankfully none are broken or cracked but it sure made a racket as the stones hit the air conditioner.

The roofs are all white, covered not by snow but HAIL STONES.  The sky, literally, got as black as night.

I don't see any damage to cars in the parking lot but, from 5 floors up, it's hard to tell for sure.

HEAT AND STORMS IN SOUTH DAKOTA

Extreme heat and storms were reported across South Dakota this afternoon.  In the west a huge storm brought large hail, heavy rains and a wind gust of 79 MPH at Faith.

In the east, late this afternoon, Sioux Falls reported 109 degrees, it was 112 in Mitchell and 118 in Aberdeen.  We're not talking heat index here.  We're talking real heat.

A strong storm moved though town early this afternoon.

We got some really heavy rain, for a short time, early this afternoon and strong winds.  The National Weather Service reported half inch size hail on French Island.

Hot enough for you?

At 3:00 pm La Crosse had a heat index of 110,  Onalaska 119, Tomah 115 and Viroqua 107.

There's a pretty good chance for thunderstorms tonight.  These could become severe with hail, wind and heavy rain.  There's even a possibility of an isolated tornado.

Tomorrow we're going to do this all over again.  And, the heat goes on!!

A cool breeze was coming through the window this morning.

In fact, the breeze was SO cool I had to SHUT the window!!  Temperatures were down in the 60's.

Our high today will only be around 75 so we can't complain about the heat.    While heat is not a big problem, rain could be a problem through Saturday.

It looks like the biggest chance for severe weather is tomorrow.   Strong winds, hail and heavy rain could cause flooding through Saturday.

A line of thunderstorms woke me around 2 this morning.

There was pretty heavy rain between La Crosse and Decorah with a few places reporting pea size hail and wind gusts to 40 MPH.  The rest of the day should be hot and steamy with heat index values as high as 95.

Cooler weather ahead...but first....THE STORMS.

Storms were already firing up around Mankato and they were moving our way when I got up this morning.  The next couple of days will still be brutally hot with highs around 90 and heat index values in the mid to upper 90's.  Behind the storms, however, temperatures will drop to around 80 on Tuesday and then the mid-70's the rest of the week.

Damaging winds and large hail is a good possibility with today's storms so it will be a good idea to keep your eye on the sky and the radar screens.

Don't plan on any big outdoor events for Sunday. Click here for more info.

The National Weather Service says we could see strong storms and damaging hail.  The rest of the weekend looks pretty good.

They had some nasty storms around Rapid City this morning.

1.25" hail reported in Pennington County.

Another nice day ahead.

The forecast calls for sunny skies with a high around 80 today.

It was quiet, around here, last night but northeast of La Crosse the little town of Thorp got hit with dime size hail and 50 MPH wind gusts.

REPORT FROM DUANE FROM RAPID CITY

"Flowers ruined last night.  Nasty, mean hail and rain storm.  Pea and golf ball size hail stones.  They yard and decks are a mess and, they say, more thunderstorms and hail tonight."