Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Severe Weather Update - Southern Plains


The above composite radar image was taken just a moment ago.  It shows a large band of strong to severe thunderstorms extending from southeast Kansas through the Oklahoma / Arkansas border region, into central Texas.  The overall area is moving East at 20-25 mph, while individual thunderstorms are moving Northeast as fast as 45 mph in Oklahoma, and as slow as 0-5 mph in the far southern part of central Texas (specifically in Mason County).

Large hail, damaging winds and very heavy rain are the primary threats with this activity.

Meanwhile, back along the dryline, thunderstorms have been trying to re-develop across southwest Kansas and northwest Oklahoma, but have not been successful thus far:


This is mainly due to the atmosphere having been "worked over" by thunderstorms earlier in the day.  There is still a chance that redevelopment could take place in this region as a strong upper-level disturbance enters the area this evening, however if this does not take place before sunset, the prospects of organized severe weather will diminish rapidly.

Below is the latest image from the SPC, showing Tornado (red) and Severe Thunderstorm (blue) Watches that are currently in effect across the region:



No comments: