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Critical Weather Day has been declared.

REASON: Winter Storm ops across the Upper Midwest.
START: 0000Z Sun Mar 15 2026
END: 0000Z Tue Mar 17 2026

All steps will be taken to support critical Winter Storm operations.Caution is also warranted for Severe Thunderstorms and Flooding operations.
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Outlook
Updated 2153Z Sat Mar 14 2026
12
18
00
06
Sat Mar 14: Critical
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12
18
00
06
Sun Mar 15: Critical
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12
18
00
06
Mon Mar 16: Critical
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Critical Weather Day is in effect from 00Z March 15 until 00Z March 17 in support of widespread major winter storm impacts across the Upper Midwest. Otherwise, Critical Weather Day is also possible Sunday into Sunday night in association with severe thunderstorms across much of the Mississippi/Tennessee/Ohio Valley region.
Hazards
wx icon Severe Thunderstorms
SPC thunderstorm outlook
SPC thunderstorm outlook
SPC thunderstorm outlook
wx icon Wildfire
SPC fire weather outlook
SPC fire weather outlook
SPC fire weather outlook
wx icon Excessive Rainfall
WPC ERO
WPC ERO
WPC ERO
wx icon Winter Weather
WPC WSSI
WPC WSSI
WPC WSSI
wx icon Space Weather
There was an error retrieving space weather conditions. Please visit SWPC for the lastest on space weather.
Day 1
R1-R2
R3-R5
S1 or
greater
--
G
none
Day 2
R1-R2
--
R3-R5
--
S1 or
greater
--
G
none
Day 3
R1-R2
--
R3-R5
--
S1 or
greater
--
G
none
wx icon Tropical Cyclones
JTWC Product
NHC Product
NHC Product
wx iconFlooding
NWS FHO
wx iconTsunamis
Error retrieving tsunami alerts. Please visit Tsunami.gov for the latest tsunami threats
wx iconEarthquakes
Error retrieving earthquake data. Please visit USGS for the latest earthquake threats
wx iconVolcanoes
Error retrieving volcano data. Please visit USGS for the latest volcano threats