Our thoughts go out to those who were affected by the tornadoes in central Oklahoma Sunday evening. On Monday, National Weather Service crews will likely be sent out to survey the damage and assign a rating to the violent tornadoes near Arcadia and Shawnee. Currently, the National Weather Service office is Norman, OK has provided a graphic showing the preliminary tracks of these two tornadoes, which can be found HERE. Please note that this graphic is only preliminary and will be updated as more information is gathered. In addition to these tornadoes, reports of large hail and damaging winds were also reported from the storms in Oklahoma today. An interactive map of preliminary storms reports for Sunday, May 19 can be found HERE.
Unfortunately, we regret to inform you that the severe threat is going to last another day. Monday is likely to present the same story, with violent tornadoes a concern for central and northeastern Oklahoma. On Tuesday, southeastern Oklahoma is under the gun for severe thunderstorms, but western and central Oklahoma should be in the clear. Again, the reason for this severe weather outbreak is a result of an eastward-moving trough and surface low pressure system that is interacting with warm air and abundant moisture surging northward from the Gulf of Mexico, providing instability in the atmosphere. Tomorrow’s severe weather will again occur primarily during the late-afternoon and evening hours due to a capping inversion, the increase of temperature with height that inhibits thunderstorm development, in place during the morning hours. We will now step through the next couple of days one at a time to give you all the details, but first, here is a quick overview.
Monday/Monday Night
For Monday, high temperatures will start to cool across the state, as we see the invasion of the 70s in the panhandle and far eastern Oklahoma. The rest of the state will see highs in the 80s, but southwest Oklahoma will still see highs soar as high as the mid-to-upper-90s: quite a temperature contrast.
As previously mentioned, Monday presents the same story in terms of the severe weather threat. Skies across the state will be partly cloudy throughout the day. Then, again, during the afternoon, the cloud cover will increase in central and eastern Oklahoma as the storms fire up. The most likely location for severe thunderstorms is in central and northeastern Oklahoma on Monday. All threats are still possible, and the timing of the storms will be in the late afternoon through evening hours, lasting overnight.
THREATS:
Very large hail
Damaging winds
Tornadoes
Tuesday/Tuesday Night
Expect a chance for thunderstorms in central and eastern Oklahoma on Tuesday, with the thunderstorms in central Oklahoma mainly occurring in the early morning hours. In eastern Oklahoma, the chance for storms persists throughout the day. The Storm Prediction Center’s slight risk for Tuesday includes southeastern Oklahoma, which means that all residents in this region need to be prepared for strong to severe storms. The timing of severe storm development will be in the late afternoon to evening hours, and damaging winds and large hail will be the main threats, though we cannot rule out the possibility of a tornado. Please remain alert if you live in this region.
Due to the passage of the cold front, highs on Tuesday will be cooler across the state. We say "goodbye" to the 90s and "hello" to highs in the 70s in the panhandle and southeast and 80s elsewhere. These cooler highs will remain in place for a couple of days.
THREATS:
Large hail
Damaging winds
Isolated tornadoes
In light of the tornado outbreak in central Oklahoma recently, we urge you to take this severe weather threat very seriously and be prepared for any changing weather conditions as they happen. We will update this blog as necessary to inform you of the latest details. Please know that, although we are unable to put out screencasts in our media department this summer, the National Weather Service office in Norman, OK are providing video briefings, which can be found on their YouTube page HERE. We also want to take this time to clear up any confusion you may have about the terms “slight risk,” “moderate risk,” and “high risk” that are used by the Storm Prediction Center. For more information on what a slight risk is, please click HERE. For more information on what moderate and high risks are, please click HERE. These graphics and information have been provided by the National Weather Service Office in Norman, OK and are available on their Facebook page.
Important Links
Oklahoma Watches, Warnings, Advisories
Looping Central Oklahoma Radar
Southern Plains Looping Radar
Latest Storm Prediction Center Convective Outlooks
National Weather Service Amarillo, TX
National Weather Service Norman, OK
National Weather Service Tulsa, OK
Sources: NWS, SPC, HOOT, Mesonet
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