Weather Explainers

Why The Midwest Got Slammed With Severe Weather Including Tornadoes, Gusty Winds and Large Hail This March

March has been an active month in terms of severe weather, including large to very large hail, powerful tornadoes and damaging wind gusts. Here’s some of the science explaining the why.

Why The Midwest Got Hit Hard This March

If you are living in the Midwest, I am sure you have gotten tired of seeing your region in the bullseye for severe weather week after week. Here are some of the science factors for why you have been hit so hard:

AROMA PARK, ILLINOIS - MARCH 11: A home is reduced to rubble after being hit by yesterday's tornado on March 11, 2026 in Aroma Park, Illinois. Several tornadoes passed through Indiana and Illinois yesterday, leaving behind a path of destruction and at least two people dead in Lake Village, Indiana. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) — A home is reduced to rubble after being hit by yesterday's tornado on March 11, 2026 in Aroma Park, Illinois. Several tornadoes passed through Indiana and Illinois yesterday, leaving behind a path of destruction and at least two people dead in Lake Village, Indiana.
((Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images))

(MORE: Recent Marches Have Seen More Tornadoes)

It's All Connected

In order to break down the severe weather across the Midwest, we have to talk about the atmospheric conditions that were in place across the Lower 48 for much of March.

For pretty much the whole month, we had a ridge in the jet stream over the Western U.S.. This means that the jet stream is forced north, usually leading to warm temperatures settling into the locations south of the jet stream. We saw this for much of March for the West as stubborn areas of high pressure were locked into the region. One such dome of high pressure was record-breaking, bringing June-like temperatures. As a result, numerous all-time March highs were broken.

(MORE: West March Heatwave)

While the West was mainly under a ridge jet stream pattern, the East primarily experienced a trough in the jet stream. This means that the jet stream was dipping to southward into the Great Lakes.

The general pattern that led to the rounds of severe for the Midwest. The ridge across the West led to rounds of storms for the Midwest for most of the month of March.

So what does this have to do with the Midwest?

Well, the jet stream is the driver of the weather, and it is responsible for setting storm systems across the country. When a ridge is in the West and a trough is in the East, low pressure systems move along the jet stream and bring relentless rounds of weather to many of the same locations. This was unfortunately the case for the Midwest this March, as the pattern stayed largely the same for the entire month.

Fronts Enhance The Storms

We have talked about the big picture of the atmosphere and how the jet stream drove rounds of storms largely for the Midwest this March.

Let’s take a look at each of these main outbreaks and how they impacted the region.

During an outbreak on March 10, a stationary front developed across northern Illinois and Indiana. This stationary front, defined as the boundary between cooler dry air and warm moist air, served as the clashing point between these air masses.

You have warm moist air from the Gulf moving north into the cool dry air over the Upper Midwest. This warm air is less dense than the cool air and it is forced to rise when they make contact. You also had the strong jet stream over the area, bringing shear, or changes in wind speed and direction in the atmosphere.

Tornado-producing storms love shear, but these storms also need other factors. Since the stationary front hardly moves, hence the name, you have hundreds of miles of favorable conditions for tornadoes to develop, specifically just to the south on the warmer side of this border. You have shear, lift along the boundary, instability and plenty of moisture from the Gulf.

(MORE: Impressive Illinois Supercell)

The next round of severe storms that impacted the Midwest happened on March 15.

This round of storms also had a front associated with it. But this time, it was a cold front. This boundary of cold air slamming into the warmer air that was settling over the region forces the warm air to rise and cool and helps bring the moisture needed for healthy severe storms.

Again, you have a powerful jet stream bringing the shear, lift from the cold front and instability and moisture. You have the right conditions, you have severe storms.

This shows all the severe reports received by the National Weather Service in the March 15-16, 2026 outbreak.
((Data: NOAA/NWS/SPC))

(MORE: Early to Mid March Severe Outbreak Recap)

Late March Impacts

While the early and mid-March outbreaks brought more tornadoes, the Midwest saw more as the end of the month approached.

For March 22, there was another round of severe weather, this time mainly a hail event. The reason why it was mainly a hail event was because you had a cold front clashing with the above average temperatures across the Midwest, which leads to plenty of lift and instability. This leads to major updrafts in the atmosphere, which helps to bring major hail events.

Finally, there was March 26. Another cold front moved through, which forced another classic clash between cold dry air and warm moist air. With some more favorable upper level conditions, there were a few tornadoes here, but still nothing like what happened earlier in the month. While it is good news that these later rounds weren’t as deadly and destructive, it is still exhausting to see so many events impact a similar area in just a month.