2012-04-14 MISC: TX/OK/KS/NE/IA

[Timothy Finn]

It passed less than ten miles south of my place.

After chasing all day in central KS, I was starting to sweat it there for a minute.

Tim

 

[Bryan Stokes]

Ok folks, I'm trying to sort out some emotions right now.

Like all of you, I've been tracking the ICT storm for the last two hours or so. (I'm in Tucson right now -- following on GR3 and GR2). I was texting and talking with several friends in Wichita at least an hour out and giving them up to the minute updates. Continued right up until the storm entered town. When I saw the circulation was crossing over McConnell AFB (which is where I worked until summer of 2010) I was working live on the phone with a friend that was sheltering in her basement near Pawnee and Rock Road. I told her to pull a mattress over her, and was talking with her live when debris started hitting her house. She began to freak out and then I lost contact. Still waiting to hear back from her. Hopefully she's ok and just has no reception right now...

Bryan

Update: I just heard from my friend at Rock and Pawnee -- she is ok! Debris was hitting her house when I lost contact with her. Debris all over her yard with what appears to be structural damage to the houses around her. The smell of gas is in the air. She's staying put in her house and is reporting that First Responders are combing through the area right now.

 

[Rob Gardner]

El Dorado Tornado looks like it has reintensified in last frame

 

[twarner]

Interesting with so many "spotter confirmed large and dangerous tornado" wordings how we are not getting more damage reports...

Sedgwick County fire department has declared Oaklawn a "crisis area". Wichita police were reporting people in Oaklawn in the street and injured.

 

[MClarkson]

That second rotating cell moving into the Salina region is looking pretty solid on doppler velocities. Looks like it might just miss the city to the northwest so long as it doesnt cycle to the right at all.

 

[Mike Johnston]

They did not. It just happened now, but unfortunately only as a Severe Weather Statement. So automated alerting systems are not picking it up. A _major_ omission for NWS.

WWUS53 KICT 150236
SVSICT


SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
936 PM CDT SAT APR 14 2012


KSC191-150300-
/O.CON.KICT.TO.W.0029.000000T0000Z-120415T0300Z/
SUMNER KS-
936 PM CDT SAT APR 14 2012


...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN SUMNER COUNTY
UNTIL 1000 PM CDT...


...TORNADO EMERGENCY FOR CONWAY SPRINGS...


AT 932 PM CDT...A CONFIRMED LARGE...VIOLENT AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
TORNADO WAS LOCATED 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CONWAY SPRINGS...AND MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.


THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION.


HAZARD...DEADLY TORNADO.


SOURCE...SPOTTER CONFIRMED TORNADO.


IMPACT...THIS IS A LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. YOU COULD BE KILLED IF
NOT UNDERGROUND OR IN A TORNADO SHELTER. COMPLETE
DESTRUCTION OF ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOODS IS LIKELY. MANY WELL
BUILT HOMES AND BUSINESSES WILL BE COMPLETELY SWEPT FROM
THEIR FOUNDATIONS. DEBRIS WILL BLOCK MOST ROADWAYS. MASS
DEVASTATION IS HIGHLY LIKELY MAKING THE AREA UNRECOGNIZABLE
TO SURVIVORS.


LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
WELLINGTON...CONWAY SPRINGS...BELLE PLAINE...WELLINGTON AIRPORT AND
RIVERDALE.


PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...


TO REPEAT...A LARGE...EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND POTENTIALLY DEADLY
TORNADO IS ON THE GROUND. TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE...TAKE COVER NOW. MOVE
TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING. AVOID
WINDOWS. IF IN A MOBILE HOME...A VEHICLE OR OUTDOORS...MOVE TO THE
CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.


TORNADOES ARE DIFFICULT TO SEE AND CONFIRM AT NIGHT. TAKE COVER NOW.


&&


LAT...LON 3748 9781 3747 9715 3730 9715 3706 9780
TIME...MOT...LOC 0235Z 213DEG 30KT 3735 9768


TORNADO...OBSERVED
TORNADO DAMAGE THREAT...CATASTROPHIC
HAIL...2.50IN


$$


KLEINSASSER

Yeah, they did RDale...call it a severe weather statement or whatever you want, but it was clearly picked up by local media in Wichita and reported as a catastrophic impact - surely not something they just made up. Now, whether or not it was sent through the proper bureaucratic channels within the NWS, I have no idea. First true test of this experimental warning program, and I'm not sure it exactly worked as planned.

 

[Eric Birch]

Bryan, sent you an IM. I would suggest the chasers in the area try to help you out perhaps if they are monitoring right now. I would imagine all the good chasers who have come around all the damage have probably been stopped due to the damage and are helping people out now.

 

[Craig Norris]

This coincides with the reports of Spirit Air and McConnell getting hit. Oaklawn is W/SW of those two areas.

 

[MClarkson]

Spotter reports tornado associated with the good velocity couplet west of Salina. The small town of Brookeville could be hit.

 

[MClarkson]

That cell could be splitting and reforming just right... which would threaten Salina directly.

 

[Tim Vasquez]

Just for what it's worth, a few minutes ago I was detecting the El Dorado KS storm all the way from the Frederick OK radar... 260 nm away. Beam center would roughly be about 54,000 ft... with spreading and refraction I'm not really sure what the actual tops would be, but still that's pretty far out. That's like detecting stuff in central Texas on TLX, which I can't recall ever seeing.

 

[Bryan Stokes]

I just heard from my friend at Rock and Pawnee -- she is ok! Debris was hitting her house when I lost contact with her. Debris all over her yard with what appears to be structural damage to the houses around her. The smell of gas is in the air. She's staying put in her house and is reporting that First Responders are combing through the area right now.

Bryan

 

[Craig Norris]

no kidding, that is one of the best couplet of the day on radar near Brookville right now. I think Salina dodges the bullet for an amazing 3rd time when all is said and done.

 

[MClarkson]

And it wraps up and moves right, now aimed directly at Salina. Not good.

 

[Tim Vasquez]

Looks like we're now entering our next phase of severe weather with a very sharp cold front now driving eastward into the Great Plains. The so-called squeegee squall line is now forming up from central Kansas SSW to Midland TX.

I would expect the sharp temperature contrast along the front to favor mostly linear modes, but I'm wondering about bow echo potential... has anyone taken an in-depth look at any of the data?

EDIT: Tornado warning out for the Paducah TX area just off the Caprock with one cell slightly ahead of the line.