Oklahoma - Particularly Dangerous Situation Tornado Watch

NOAA ^ | 5/31/13

[dirtboy]

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 262 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 330 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 2013

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA

* EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON FROM 330 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT.

...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE... SEVERAL INTENSE TORNADOES LIKELY NUMEROUS VERY LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER LIKELY NUMEROUS DAMAGING WIND GUSTS LIKELY WITH SEVERAL SIGNIFICANT GUSTS TO 80 MPH POSSIBLE

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF BARTLESVILLE OKLAHOMA TO 30 MILES EAST OF WICHITA FALLS TEXAS. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

&&

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 260...WW 261...

DISCUSSION...AN EXTREMELY UNSTABLE AIR MASS HAS DEVELOPED ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL/EASTERN OK THIS AFTERNOON. THIS WILL LIKELY RESULT IN RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ALONG THE DRYLINE OVER WEST-CENTRAL OK...AND ALONG A WEAK BOUNDARY EXTENDING NORTHEASTWARD INTO NORTHEAST OK. DISCRETE SUPERCELLS CAPABLE OF EXTREMELY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE. DAMAGING WINDS WILL BECOME AN INCREASING THREAT THROUGH THE EVENING.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 4 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 600. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26025.

[GOPJ]

I’m thankful you and your loved ones are OK - thanks for sharing.

[Drawn7979]

God bless the folks there!

[caww]

Yes, I heard today there was a husband and another child ..safe.

Also that a police officer actually saw the tornado suck them out of the car....so he was able to search for them til found in a wooded area. They also showed the car..flipped and pretty much bent up.

Very sad day for this family.

[pax_et_bonum]

That would be Gary England...probably will be known as the father of tornado forecasting
_____________

Thanks!

He’s fantastic. His knowledge and professionalism are perfect and, as I listened to his broadcast, I was thinking that these qualities combined with his absolutely calm demeanor and poise must help those in the path of storms to remain as calm as possible.

I must say, too, that his accent is splendiferous.

:-)

[Styria]

I don't know where the radar is in relation to Norton, but that's the name of their regional NWS center. The circles around it are also artifact from the radar - the motion is more linear across the area. Some things show up in the center because those whisps of cloud are low enough, and the heavier (green vs blue) clouds and rain started to push into it, enough where they could make their presence known, so it shrank.

You can see that kind of appearance on radar images of hurricanes too.