Tony Briscoe

Tony Briscoe is a former reporter for the Tribune.

A bighead carp is pictured on Aug. 7, 2019, at the Shedd Aquarium.

Asian carp have never breached a body of freshwater the size of Lake Michigan. Here’s the bizarre way they could survive and thrive in the world’s fifth largest lake.

September 19, 2019 at 11:21 p.m.

As Asian carp have stormed up the Illinois River in the past several decades, looming precariously close to Lake Michigan, scientists have been forced to ponder an alarming question: What...

People play and swim in an area that is normally dry, next to the Lakefront Trail between North Avenue Beach and Oak Street Beach on July 11, 2019.

Lake Michigan has swallowed up 2 Chicago beaches this summer. Experts say the worst could still be on the way.

August 2, 2019 at 9:49 p.m.

Standing near the lakefront in blustery winds, Ross Lehman watched as an endless legion of 8-foot waves roared toward a strip of Rogers Park condos. Every few seconds, the surf...

What does your Lake Michigan beach look like? The Tribune checked out many in Chicago to see how they’re faring.

August 2, 2019 at 4:52 p.m.

Less than seven years ago, on the heels of one of the most crippling droughts in recent memory, Lake Michigan water levels dipped to their lowest point on record. Back...

Corry Lee cools off his head with water from a fire hydrant faucet outside a fire station on Waveland Avenue, across the street from Wrigley Field on July 17, 2019, in Chicago.

Friday could be the hottest day of year in Chicago. In the future, it could just be … Friday, experts say.

July 19, 2019 at 11:21 a.m.

An oppressive heat wave encompassing the Midwest and East Coast could bring dangerously high temperatures to the Chicago area this weekend, according to meteorologists. From Minneapolis to Oklahoma City and...

Clouds move southeast over the Roscoe Village and Lakeview neighborhoods before a rainstorm June 27, 2019, in Chicago.

Chicago is not tornado-proof. Here’s why.

July 12, 2019 at 6:00 a.m.

Despite being known as the Windy City, Chicago has developed a false reputation as being impervious to tornadoes. In its history, Chicago has seen very few tornadoes compared with the...

National Guard members from Joliet search for bodies in a cornfield near the Crest Hill Lakes Apartments in Plainfield on Aug. 29, 1990, the day after an F-5 tornado ravaged the area.

More tornadoes are touching down east of the Mississippi River. If the Midwest is the dartboard, ‘the bull’s-eye is Chicago.’

September 19, 2019 at 11:22 p.m.

On a Sunday in late June, Tom Shaw and his relatives gathered at his sister's South Bend home for a poolside birthday celebration for his 8-year-old nephew. The family was...

A team of researchers from the University of Chicago collects Lake Michigan water samples on June 27, 2019, from a device known as a rosette, which is used to retrieve lake water from various depths. The boat Blue Heron hosted University of Chicago researchers studying microorganisms in the Great Lakes.

Because of historic rains, less than half the normal amount of corn has been planted in Illinois. The next weeks are make or break for farmers.

June 9, 2019 at 11:50 p.m.

The drive through rural Illinois is bleak these days. Following an unseasonably wet spring, some farm fields that would normally be filled with burgeoning corn stalks and soybean plants are...

Tony Briscoe

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