Thursday, April 14, 2011

Tulsa Severe Weather Update


The above image of the Tulsa radar was taken just a moment ago.  The left half of the image is reflectivity mode (showing rain, hail, etc.) while the right half is velocity (wind motion & speed) mode.  Note the severe storm southwest of Tulsa in Creek County.  The pink polygon is a Tornado Warning that is currently in effect.

On the velocity portion of the image, if you look closely within the Tornado Warning polygon over Creek County, you'll see strong wind motion toward (green colors) and away (red colors) from the radar, which denotes the circulation associated with a possible tornado.  I've highlighted that circulation on the image below:


This storm is currently moving Northeast to East/Northeast at 40 mph.  Over the past hour it has begun turning more toward the East gradually (as expected).  On its current track, the storm will impact at least the southern half of the Tulsa Metro area by 6:15 PM.  The area South of I-244/412 seems to be at greatest risk based on the current and forecast track...

Large hail (in excess of golfball size), damaging winds and a tornado are all possible with this dangerous storm.



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