The tornado watch for northwest Oklahoma was reissued and is in effect until 3 AM.
Here is a look at the watch area:
Severe thunderstorms have continued across far northwest Oklahoma as indicated by radar:
The storms have become more linear in the last hour, so the tornado threat has decreased; however, there is still a small risk.
Damaging wind and large hail will remain a threat overnight, but the storms will likely weaken some over time.
Vivek
Weather Intern
The Storm Prediction Center just sent out their tornado watch for northwest Oklahoma and the panhandle until 11 PM.
Here is a look at the watch area:
Beaver, Ellis, Harper, Roger Mills, Texas, Woods, and Woodward counties are the ones in Oklahoma that are included in the watch.
This watch is a “particularly dangerous situation” tornado watch, which means there is an enhanced potential for dangerous severe weather.
Remember, you can check streaming Advantage Doppler HD Radar on the front page of KOCO.com. Also, keep an eye on the Weather Blog for more updates.
Vivek
Weather Intern
It is another cloudy, warm and breezy day through the state. Temperatures didn’t drop much below 70 in most locations this morning.
We continue to watch for storm develop later today in the northwest part of the state and the eastern panhandle. The key will be the interaction of a cold front and an area of low pressure with the abundant low-level moisture and the conditionally unstable atmosphere.
Hail, damaging winds, and isolated tornadoes are all threats.
After slow movement during the evening, the storms will pick up speed and form more into a linear event as they push into the central part of the state. Some of these storms could develop right on top of each other (train) which could lead to localized flooding in some areas.
Rusty
Good Wednesday morning. Hardcore Weather is on the web and ready for you to view. In today’s version I show you where the best chance for rough weather will be, and I give you an idea of what the Memorial Day weekend will be like, so give it a look.
We’ll have some rough weather in the state later today and tonight in the form of severe thunderstorms. There is a moderate risk of severe weather including large hail, strong winds and even a few tornadoes later today in northwest Oklahoma. This will occur as upper level energy moves into the southern Plains and interacts with a slow moving cold front.
Storms will likely develop from Kansas south into northwest Oklahoma and the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas later this afternoon. The cold front that is currently located in that area will push southeast tonight and tomorrow, moving across the rest of Oklahoma. As the front moves southeast, the chance of storms will increase across the rest of the state. The severe threat will be mainly later today into tonight, but storms will not be as strong tomorrow as they move through central Oklahoma.
The most likely time frame for storms in OKC will be very late tonight through early afternoon tomorrow.
Heavy rain will also be a threat with parts of the northwest picking up 1-2 inches of rain. Central Oklahoma could have near an inch from late tonight through midday tomorrow before the storms move into southeast Oklahoma.
Friday through Memorial day will remain somewhat unsettled with a chance of showers and storms each day. However, it won’t rain the whole time and there will be several hours of dry weather each day. Despite the low rain chances, the holiday weekend does not look like a washout and the threat for any severe weather is low.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on the severe weather so make sure you check back for updates throughout the day. I’ll also have the very latest information this evening on Eyewitness News 5 at 5, 6, and 10 pm.
Have a great day.
Rick
There have been several tornado warnings up in Kansas and Colorado this afternoon. Several of these thunderstorms have produced some large hail.
Here is a look at radar from Goodland, KS, which shows several of these supercell storms:
A tornado watch remains in effect for this part of the country until 11 PM this evening.
Back in Oklahoma, it looks like our severe risk tonight is zero, unless something breaks the cap along the dryline in the Texas panhandle. The chance of that is very low.
Tomorrow looks to be much more active day for Oklahoma, especially across northwest parts of the state.
The Storm Prediction Center has placed those areas under a moderate risk for severe weather:
Unfortunately, isolated thunderstorm chances remain in the forecast through the Memorial Day Weekend–but right now widespread activity isn’t expected.
Vivek
Weather Intern
Hello all,
I am currently on a several day stormchasing excursion and right now sitting in Liberal, KS after chasing some severe storms in the TX panhandle yesterday. We are currently watching how things may unfold later this afternoon and this evening in regards to today’s potential setup.
The bottom line is, we have a significant late May storm system that is vigorously developing across the Rocky mountains early this afternoon. Out ahead of it, warm, moist air is streaming northward while a dryline is sharpening across the western high Plains.
As the wind fields, moisture, and upper dynamics come together late this afternoon and into this evening there is the possibility of isolated to widely scattered thunderstorms developing along the dryline. This will, however, be strongly dependent on the strength of the “capping” layer over the region right now and whether or not it will weaken sufficiently to allow for storms to get going. If it does, severe storm development is very likely, and combined with all of the other parameters large hail, strong wind gusts, and possibly even tornadoes are a very high certainty. The areas under the gun would be from portions of Nebraska southwestward across the western and west-central portions of Kansas, south into the Panhandle and northwestern part of OK on down into the eastern TX panhandle and maybe even western Oklahoma for later this afternoon and this evening.
Then tomorrow, a lot of trends in the prognostics and observations are pointing toward another potentially very active day, with the severe weather risk more widespread and shifted into a large portion of Kansas, the panhandle of TX, and perhaps more significantly for us the western to northwestern half of the state of Oklahoma. Tomorrow’s setup, if it came together with all parameters, would be a significant and potentially dangerous one for the area and you will want to definitely stay tuned to the very latest as more information becomes available!
Keep it tuned to Eyewitness News 5 during this period of very active Spring weather.
Ilya Neyman
Weather Intern
If you believe this map, there’s a lot of rain on the way for Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
Although there is plenty (and I mean plenty) of moisture in the lower levels of the atmosphere, there’s no real “kicker” to spark off showers today. However, that should change late Wednesday with the approach of an upper level trough and its associated cold front.
It looks like these storms could train on themselves, creating a heavy rain event. There is also a slight risk of severe weather in the state on Wednesday.
Rusty
Yet another discovery of water on the red planet. Awhile back I mentioned how the satellites picked up on what was once water/now ice, now the land rovers by shear accident unearthed enough soil to find remnants of the liquid. The big question that still looms is there more water underground? That discovery would be phenomenal and would imply life still exists on the planet. For more on the discovery follow this link: Mars
AT
A television crew from Japan is in town shooting a special report on tornadoes. They spent part of yesterday at KOCO shooting video and interviewing me on how we keep our viewers safe during bad weather. They are planning on going out storm chasing with one of our crews today or tomorrow. The way things look, tomorrow will be the day that has more storms in the state.
Today’s weather will be mostly cloudy, windy and mild with a few hit and miss showers. The dryline will be west of Oklahoma. If a storm or two can develop along the dryline they will likely be severe. However, the cap strength is high, and the chance that storms can develop is low.
The better chance of storms will be tomorrow into Thursday morning as a cold front moves into the state. Much of the state will have storms, and some of those will be severe.
Things will quiet down by Thursday afternoon into Friday, but low storm chances are in the forecast Saturday through Monday. While heavy rain is likely tomorrow into Thursday, I don’t believe the holiday weekend will be a washout.
I’ll have the newest weather information tonight on Eyewitness News 5 at 5, 6, and 10 pm. Have a great day!
Rick
