Extreme weather is lashing virtually every region of the Lower 48

On Monday, the extreme weather was difficult to escape.

Record heat swelled from Nebraska to South Carolina. Chicago dealt with hurricane-force winds and probable tornadoes. Yellowstone National Park was blocked off to visitors because of roads made impassible by flooding. Fires raged in the Desert Southwest.

The seemingly disjointed atmospheric turmoil is all tied together in what meteorologists refer to as a “ring of fire” weather pattern. A stifling heat dome is parked over the Tennessee Valley, bringing exceptional heat and humidity while severe thunderstorms erupt along its northern fringe. In the dome’s wake, dry air has parched the Southwestern landscape, creating tinderbox conditions for fast-spreading fires. A dip in the jet stream on the heat dome’s northwest flank has allowed exceptional amounts of moisture to pour over the Northern Rockies.

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The active weather pattern, with heat acting as the centerpiece, is slated to stick around for the next week or two. The heat, intensified by human-caused climate change, could well fuel more destructive storms.

Severe storms rage from the Great Lakes to Ohio Valley

The National Weather Service received nearly 600 reports of severe weather Monday as violent thunderstorms erupted in the Midwest and charged southeastward through the Ohio Valley into southwest Virginia and western North Carolina. The storms unleashed winds up to 98 mph, downing hundreds of trees.

Forming on the northern periphery of the heat dome and energized by south-to-north temperature contrasts, the storms drew down roaring high-altitude winds as destructive gusts.

On Monday evening, the storms began along Interstate 94 between Madison and Milwaukee, dropping hen-egg-size hail before shifting over Lake Michigan.

The thunderstorm grew to nearly 70,000 feet tall, feeling the effects of the jet stream aloft, which contributed to its potency. Prolific lightning rates, with more than a dozen flashes per second, accompanied the developing storm cell.

Another severe storm blossomed west of Chicago, becoming a supercell or rotating thunderstorm that prompted the issuance of tornado warnings across the area. Sirens blared as funnels danced west of town, several of which may have intermittently touched down. There was radar evidence of tight circulations near Streamwood, Roselle and Maywood, Ill., and an 84 mph wind gust was reported at Chicago’s O’Hare International…