A hazardous weather alert is in effect for Northeast Ohio, including the Cleveland and Akron areas, as strong to severe thunderstorms and heat move through the region. The National Weather Service warns of damaging winds,

Southeast Michigan faces the highest risk with downbursts capable of producing wind gusts up to 60 MPH and the potential for localized flooding from slow-moving storms.

Chad Hahn, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service, also confirmed a tornado did not touch down in Newton or Jasper County. He said there was a strong rotating wall cloud on the storm, which along with the rotation identified on radar prompted the tornado warning.

The intense thunderstorm may have looked and sounded like a tornado, but that's not what happened, according to forecasters who examined the damage.

At least five states are expected to deal with severe weather this weekend, according to the National Weather Service. Unfortunately, this month has been pretty tough for the United States. During the Fourth of July weekend,

We are tracking an area of rain and a few thunderstorms for tonight. Hopefully, the dry areas, south of I-70, will get some rain tonight.

Everyone in our area has the potential for heavy rain, but the best potential for flash flooding will be within the flood watch area. Rainfall rates within thunderstorms may be between 1″ and 3″ per hour,

Staffing issues at the National Weather Service in Tucson could be impacting the accuracy of monsoon storm predictions, according to a former University of Arizona atmospheric science

The storm traveling east has already resulted in an evacuation order from the Harley-Davidson festival on Milwaukee's lakefront.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 545 PM CDT FOR NORTH CENTRAL GREEN AND SOUTHWESTERN DANE COUNTIES... At 525 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over