The hours were long and grueling, but we were able to successfully spread information about this week's severe weather, and that is, in my eyes, a successful start for 2026 and for BT Weather. 

We've got another week of coverage coming up, however BT Weather coverage will focus on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Tuesday's intense outlook has been updated, and it looks like we have a large Enhanced Risk area in northern Illinois. BT Studio will be in the Slight Risk zone, while this would be a call for standard safety prep, we are pushing past the standard procedure due to changes in the safety procedure and the general concern around this outbreak. Marginal and Slight Risk zones have recently been overperforming, (see the Michigan tornado from March 6 for an example), and a lot of unexpected things have occured. Safety is the #1 priority of BT Weather, and we will be working on further solutions to expand our safety.

BT Weather, after experiencing a tornado go through HQ (Bloomington, Indiana) twice in the last 2 years, is pushing past the old safety model from 2025 and before. Marginal and Slight Risk zones will be treated as the Enhanced Risk was treated before. 

BT Weather will also be celebrating its one year anniversary on March 15, 2026! What was once BT Studio SKYWARN has advanced considerably in the last few weeks, and I'm very proud of the work we've accomplished over the last year. I will be doing a first year review stream at some point in the coming months, potentially during the 2026 Spring Severe Weather Season Autopsy in late June.

EXPANDED COVERAGE ZONE COMING TO BT WEATHER!

Welcome our newest county additions, Sullivan County, Indiana, Clay County, Indiana, and Johnson County, Indiana. These zones will be added to our tornado chase/spotting zone in 2026. This will be rolled out over the coming months, and each month will introduce a new county! The spotting zone map is included with this article.

April 1, 2026: Sullivan County, Indiana
May 1, 2026: Clay County, Indiana
June 1, 2026: Johnson County, Indiana

The spotting zone has many potential expansions in its future. At some point, we want to cover the entirety of the interesting portions of Indiana, weather wise. You can see the plans via the map included with this article.

2026 looks to be a promising year for BT Weather. It feels like the excitement around the possibilities is palpable, and this could become a genuinely incredible project which could change the way citizen meteorology is done! Let's change the world, for the better, together! Let's inspire others to join our path in making a weather organization with the first goal of serving the people, not profits.

Edit: An earlier version of the expansion map was posted to this article. The new and current version is now displayed in this article.