The red areas in Kansas and Pennsylvania + Virginia Panhandle have a serious risk of torrential rain and flooding. Please monitor the weather and remember: Turn around, don't drown. Never try to cross a flooded area by  foot or by car.

This forecast has been updated. Please click here for the update .  As of the present time (5:15pm Monday), thunderstorms are developing in Nebraska. Some of those will affect Kansas late tonight and Tuesday morning. There could be some isolated wind gusts to 50 mph. This forecast pertains to the afternoon and night hours from about 4pm Tuesday to 5am Wednesday.  Tornado Risk The orange area has an enhanced  risk of tornadoes. Some could be strong (EF-2 or stronger. The brown area has a significant risk of tornadoes. This risk will begin around 4pm and will increase into the evening.  Damaging Wind Risk The red, hatched area has an enhanced risk of wind gusts of 75 mph or stronger. The red area without hatching has an enhanced risk of gusts of 60 mph or stronger. The yellow area as a significant risk of 60 mph winds or stronger.  In the hatched area, there is a serious risk of destructive storms: tornadoes and damaging winds. Power outages are likely  and s...

Please keep up on the weather if you live in the brown-shaded area. 

After the huge success of the National Transportation Safety Board , in 1998 Congress established the    U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazards Investigation Board . The CSB's mission is to investigate accidents such as those at oil refineries and chemical manufacturing plants. Like the NTSB, it has authority to investigate and make recommendations but it has no enforcement power.  Via Grist  I learned this morning that President Trump's Administration is proposing to eliminate the CSB as part of balancing the federal budget. This is a terrible idea!  I am a small-government conservative but both the CSB and NTSB produce huge returns on investment, not to mention the lives saved.  Its budget is just $15 million per year. That amount is just  one-quarter  of a single NOAA pork barrel grant to a global warming group in Maine (below). And, of course, NOAA makes many of these grants. To save money, let's get NOAA completely out of the pork-barrel busin...

When the Sirens Were Silent   is the true story of what went wrong during the catastrophic 2011 Joplin Tornado and how -- if we don't fix the current and the issues of the past decade of the National Weather Service -- it could happen again.  The book has received outstanding reviews and we priced the ebook version (the paperback copies sold out quickly) at just $2.99. It can be read on your computer using Amazon's Kindle Cloud Reader.

If you live in this region and have outdoor activity planned this afternoon or evening, please keep an eye on the weather. A major wind event is likely.  Here's the color code: Hatching: Forecast wind gusts of 75 mph or stronger.  Red: Enhanced risk of damaging wind gusts. Yellow: Significant risk of wind gusts of 60 mph or stronger.  Please make sure you have a way of receiving watches and warnings if you are going to outdoors.

With the passing of Brian Wilson Wednesday, I wanted to post my favorite performance of his. It was recorded in London in 2003 when he performed the entire album of Pet Sounds  live. The end the performance with a wonderful rendition of Good Vibrations.  Rest in peace, Brian and thank you for all of the great music!!