4-22-10 Chase #2 Summary

Chase #2 of the Season Summary- Success

A Slight risk eventually become a moderate for our area by the 20z update from SPC. So Finally a decent setup and it lived up to it's billing as our first intersect of a tornado of the year. Although be it several miles away it was the best we could do with the lack of roads. It also didn't help that the beast was in the middle of no where cruising at less than 10 mph at times.

My Co-Anchor on Good Morning Texoma, Lindsay Vocht and I went west as my normal chase partner Oliver was on vacation. It was also Lindsay's first chasing experience and I was dealing with a brand new laptop. So we definitely got off to a bumpy start as my laptop was not liking my Verizon wireless card. Thankfully by time the storms got going we were able to fix the problems and headed southwest to Childress. Which was my original chase target since Tuesday of that week. So I was pleased that my forecast was verifying.

Once we arrived in Childress it was evident that this supercell was really getting its act together so we went after it in Motley county. Which at this time the storm went tornado warned and we arrived about ten minutes later. A large wall cloud and tornado was easily recognizable in the distance however was quickly cover up by rain. Over the next two hours we continued to watch this beast travel northeast at first at 25mph then slowly down to less than 10mph.  This storm produced a large rain-wrapped tornado that was reported by spotters southwest of Cee Vee. This storm continued to produce one or more tornadoes as it tracked to the southeast of Cee Vee between 7:30 and 8:40 pm.
Here is rough edit of some of the better video we got on this storm.

Lindsay put together a funny summary of our chasing adventure...Enjoy!

For more videos...Check out the Chase Videos Link Above!

Here is a report from the NWS-Lubbock about this Tornado Supercell Click Here-Report

Here is a great write up from the West Texas Mesonet of storm damage and estimate of the tornado. Click Here-TORNADO DAMAGE

 

Miles Travels- 382   (566 for the year)
Tornadoes Witnessed- One Large Wedge
Largest Hail- Quarter Size (1 inch)
High Winds- est. 40 mph

Full List of Storm Reports for 4-22-10 Click Here

19th Anniversay of the EF5 Andover Tornado

Today marks the 19th anniversary of the famous Andover tornado. That provided some incredible tornado videos that I become obsessed with growing up and part of the reason I'm a meteorologist today.

The 1991 Andover, Kansas tornado outbreak was a violent outbreak of 55 tornadoes which took place on April 26, 1991, killing 24 people and injuring hundreds more. The Andover outbreak was featured in two different documentaries: the first one was Enemy Wind, a documentary produced by The Weather Channel. It was also covered in Cyclone, a documentary that was produced and distributed by National Geographic, which released this one and dozens of other documentaries under its National Geographic Home Video series, and were released in both VHS and DVD formats.

Click Here to read more about this devastating tornado.

Great Videos of the Tornado

Andover Tornado #1

Andover Tornado #2

New Chase Videos From Last Night

Full summary and pictures coming up later this weekend but for now here are a couple videos from our HP Beast.
Chase # 2 4-22-10

The Chase is about to begin as conditions look pretty good. =)

Early this afternoon, conditions were starting to heat up as the low stratus deck continues to burn off. A powerful jet stream continues to barrel underneath a large trough in the desert southwest. This jet stream will turn the corner and spread right over top a moderately unstable air mass by mid afternoon. One thing that is really encouraging to me is the strong divergence aloft as the jet stream splits over Northern Texas and Oklahoma. So any t'storm that gets going will have great upper level support. Here is the 250mb map for 7pm this evening.

The lower levels are becoming nice and humid as well with dew points climbing into the lower 60s. South to southeast winds will also promote higher helicity values especially during the evening hours. So with CAPE values exceeding 2,500 to 3,000 joules and high lapse rates. Very large hail looks to be a big concern as right now baseball size hail doesn't a possibility. LCL heights(base cloud level) will be conducive to support tornadic development with any storm that is isolated through the evening.

Eventually the dryline storms across eastern Texas panhandle and western Oklahoma will be overtaken by a squall line along the cold front. As Damaging winds and some hail looks to be a widespread threat across Oklahoma and North Texas. These storms will likely surge east into eastern Oklahoma by daybreak as they start to weaken.

So a very busy time for across the Southern Plains as I plan on leaving for around Childress here in about an hour. Don't forget to check back as the Live Streaming Dash cam will be up and running.

Second Chase of the Year Looks to be Approaching

After a nice weekend out of town and away from the internet it’s time to get prepared for the next chase adventure. Models are starting to converge on a likely chase day this coming Thursday across the southern Plains. Here is a map of the current thinking of the greatest threat area.

During Wednesday night into Thursday morning as WAA takes over and the trough starts to lower heights. Widespread convection will take over from northern Texas north to Kansas. This could hinder instability but a veered 700mb by late morning into early morning. Should allow some separation and clearing along the dry line across the Texas panhandle and western north Texas.

Here are couple maps to compare from the 12z NAM and 12z GFS

75th Anniversary of Black Sunday

The 1930s were times of tremendous hardship on the Great Plains. Settlers dealt not only with the Great Depression, but also with years of drought that plunged an already-suffering society into an onslaught of relentless dust storms for days and months on end. They were known as dirt storms, sand storms, black blizzards, and “dusters.” It seemed as if it could get no worse, but on Sunday, the 14th of April 1935, it got worse. The day is known in history as “Black Sunday,” when a mountain of blackness swept across the High Plains and instantly turned a warm, sunny afternoon into a horrible blackness that was darker than the darkest night. Famous songs were written about it, and on the following day, the world would hear the region referred to for the first time as “The Dust Bowl.”

Click Here To Read More about Black Sunday

Remembering Terrible Tuesday in Texoma 4-10-79

The Red River Valley tornado outbreak of April 10, 1979 is one of the most significant tornado outbreaks that ever occurred in western north Texas and southern Oklahoma. To commemorate this event, the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma has complied a large amount of information including: tornado photos of the Wichita Falls, Vernon, Seymour, and Harrold, TX tornadoes; damage photos; images of radar and satellite data; other maps and diagrams of the event; and storm data for Oklahoma and western north Texas.

Take a look back at this day that ever changed parts of Texoma including it's biggest city Wichita Falls forever.

Click Here Terrible Tuesday 4-10-79

Severe Weather Threat Continues across Ohio Valley

The risk of severe weather this afternoon is building across Illinois, Indiana and parts of western Kentucky.
Here is a statement from SPC in there latest severe weather outlook with a map below.

"VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS ACROSS CENTRAL IL IN VICINITY OF THE WARM FRONT. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS ALSO INCREASING FROM THE SOUTH...WHICH SHOULD LEAD TO AFTERNOON MLCAPE VALUES OF 500-1000 J/KG IN THE REGION. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO FORM AHEAD OF THE SURFACE LOW...BOTH ALONG THE WARM FRONT AND IN THE WARM SECTOR. FORECAST SOUNDINGS SHOW STRONG EFFECTIVE SHEAR AND SUFFICIENT CAPE FOR SUPERCELL STORMS. MESOSCALE MODELS ALSO INDICATE THIS REGION IS MOST LIKELY TO SEE DISCRETE INITIATION. LOW LEVEL VERTICAL SHEAR IS MODEST BUT SUFFICIENT FOR A RISK OF ISOLATED TORNADOES...ALONG WITH HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS AS STORMS TRACK EASTWARD INTO IND"

New MD out for just north of here as Dry line presses east

Possible Chase along the dry line up I-44 towards south of OKC here in the next couple of hours. 

Stay Tune!

NEW MD..CLICK HERE

Small Tornado Threat for Ohio Valley

Tornado Watch Until 9pm CDT

New tornado watch has been issued for portions of Illinois as a warm front is starting to retreat north. Conditions are becoming moderately unstable under a moistening atmosphere to produce t'storms and some supercells. Right now the biggest risk of tornadoes is across Illinois and points west but the threat is there east to around Cincy along the warm front. Large hail up to 2.5 inches and damaging winds up to 65mph are the most likely threats. T'storms will continue to develop from central Illinois to southwest Ohio through the rest of the afternoon. The general line of storms will drift northeast but individual stronger storms will move east/southeast at around 35 mph.

Still Tracking Severe Weather Threat This Week

Alert mode now upgraded to (Orange) Chase possible within the next 48 hours

Target Area: Western Oklahoma- This Evening (10% chance of chasing)

                    Western Oklahoma- Monday  (40% chance of chasing)

                     Texoma- Tuesday  (80% chance of chasing)

Well the moisture continues to surge north this afternoon as 60 degree dew points are now in southeastern Kansas. Here in Lawton our dew points have gone from the 40s last night into the lower 60s in the matter of a few hours. It’s nice feeling the warm somewhat humid air and see this nice status cu this morning race to the north. Moisture depth could be a little better but we continue to see a nice fetch of moisture from the south. Surface to 700mb do show some signs of veering by tonight and into Monday which could mix some of the lower level moisture out. Hence hurting the threat severe weather along the dry line here in Oklahoma but definitely needs watching tomorrow. Here is a map of current dew points as of 1pm cst.

However before we get to that lets looks at the small possibility of some severe weather this afternoon here in Oklahoma. Temperatures continue to warm up nicely into the middle 80s under south winds. This will likely produce surface based CAPE up to near 1500 j/kg along a weak triple point in western Oklahoma. Although there is very weak convergence and slightly veered 850 winds there will be a chance of a few t’storms along the front by sunset. These could capable of producing large hail and damaging winds with a small tornado threat if they move away from the front. Here is a map of the area being watched for development this evening.

Moving on to Monday and Tuesday I’m not going to get into a full forecast analysis as many things are going to be mesoanalysis and won’t show up till the day of. Plus it’s Easter and I’m a little busy with my allergies killing me today. There is a moderate risk for severe t’storms to the north but I’ll focus on the storms I could possibly be chasing here in Oklahoma. Pros to the setup will be effective shear 40-50kts, dew points >60 and CAPE values over 2,500 both Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Cons will be veering winds and lack of height falls until after peak heating especially on Monday. Tuesday the biggest problem is the neutral tilt of the 500mb trough and no real convergence along the front. However there could be a weak low pressure that forms in the base of the trough near Childress, Texas. Here are the latest SPC outlooks for Monday and Tuesday. I’ll have plenty more on this setup on Monday…..Hoping to be chasing both days but we’ll see as it’s not for sure yet.