2015-03-25 EVENT: TX/OK/AR/MO/IL/IN

[Jeff Duda]

Thanks, but that looks like KTLX (title bar confirms). I"m looking for data from TOKC (the TDWR between Moore and Norman). As far as I know, no one archives the data or imagery. Sadly, once those data are gone, they seem to be unrecoverable.

 

[Brian Hartmann]

Thanks, but that looks like KTLX (title bar confirms). I"m looking for data from TOKC (the TDWR between Moore and Norman). As far as I know, no one archives the data or imagery. Sadly, once those data are gone, they seem to be unrecoverable.

Jeff, the TDWR Level III data is archived right along with the WSR sites at http://has.ncdc.noaa.gov/pls/plhas/HAS.FileAppSelect?datasetname=7000

It should be up in a few days.

I am not sure about Level II, though. I only deal with III. Best of luck.

 

[Michael Snyder]

Looks like there was significant damage in Sand Springs. Moore got hit too. I had a friend that lives near Tulsa, he sent me some pictures of the tornado that went through there, it was big! Moore I heard got hit by a weak tornado. It was alarming that they didn't have a warning on it right away. I was watching both of these storms and also the ones in Arkansas on Radar. I wish I could of been out there chasing today. Well, I guess the March tornado drought is over now, and Tornado season 2015 has officially started.

That cell had a nice hook on it as it approached Tulsa. Its been so long for anything significant that when I saw the mean storm moving due east just west of Tulsa when the others had NE movement, Ill admit that it got me excited all the way here in Seattle.

 

[Brian Hartmann]

A family member has already asked me the question that will probably be on many lips tomorrow, namely, why didn't SPC issue a Tornado Watch instead of a Severe Thunderstorm Watch? To my very-much-an-amateur mind, I would presume that the forecast had expected the cold front to arrive much sooner than it eventually did and that the cells that ended up riding the stationary boundary were going to be swept along their merry way much earlier, that the event would be much more squally than it turned out to be. It was quite remarkable to watch (on radar) as the cells trained down the line right into metro Tulsa.

I work and live in central Osage and northern Washington Co. and we were north of the boundary and everything up here just died after it moving north of the stationary front.

What else do you all think we can learn from this system?

 

[Jeff Duda]

What else do you all think we can learn from this system?

Not all events are easily predictable. Some are inherently difficult to predict, especially when small scale features make a big difference (as I bet they did today). Given the lackluster low level shear and large T/Td spreads, I agree with SPC's choice to go with a blue box instead of a red one. Once storms get going and begin to interact with each other, it's really an all-bets-off kind of situation. Storms can do some funky things when they can interact with each other (especially when one intercepts the OFB from another).

 

[Jake Orosi]

I'm more interested in what was going on at Norman during the Moore tornado. The only insight I have into what they were thinking was their public Twitter feed, but it is very puzzling to me.

According to the preliminary data, the Moore tornado was on the ground from about 6:35 to about 6:46. But at the time, they seem to have been caught completely off-guard. While local television was actually broadcasting live video of the tornado, Norman was tweeting:

635pm - reports Tinker AFB sirens are sounding. They have their own warnings and criteria. No NWS tornado warnings in effect. #okwx

636p: There is NO Tornado in SW #OKC Winds are from Surging strait line winds, get away from windows, damaging winds & power outtages #okwx

Followed two minutes later with

638pm - brief weak tornado in west Moore. #okwx

Odd to call it brief at 6:38, as the tornado apparently would remain on the ground for another 8 minutes or so after that.

But at any rate, it is rather curious. NWS Norman seemed rather adamant that it was a straight-line event and not a tornado - adamant enough that they actually responded to tweets, apparently reporting the tornado, with an assertion that there was "NO tornado". Why? I don't have radar images from the moments in question. Did they not see the rotation on Doppler?

 

[Andy Berrington]

That's pretty stunning (and discouraging) to me, to say the least.

 

[Donnie Beasley]

I guess this is one of those situations where it really pays to have chasers and spotters out there in the field.

 

[James Gustina]

Norman seems to be exceptionally against acknowledging a tornado threat unless it's beating them over the head anymore. Today was definitely not cut and dry but there was obviously potential when those storms near El Reno and Anadarko started exhibiting mid-level rotation, with the northern cell that would produce the Moore tornado modifying the frontal airmass.

 

[calvinkaskey]

Worse yet is when a tornado warning is issued and the warning takes over 5 minutes to get out on noaa radio, cell phones and there is no tornado siren at all. Either that or the NWS lied about them issuing it. By the time the warning got out it was already ef-2 I'd estimate. They did say something before (not sure how long) about weak rotation and we were under a tornado watch but just weak rotation doesn't say much at all since there are probably many multiples of rotating cells to the number of tornadoes.

 

[Stan Rose]

Based on the backlash they've gotten so far, one might expect some statements from Norman over the next couple days. The weirdest thing was the (incorrect?) warning that ws initially issued for the OKC area, followed several minutes later by the 'correct' warning over Moore. Software glitch?? Im sure there will be some sort of explanation. As for the Moore circulation, it was pretty darn brief, only lasted a couple scans from what I saw. Ive also heard a lot of third hand statements such as the one Jake mentioned above, about "local television was actually broadcasting live video of the tornado" Where is the video--id like to see it.

 

[calvinkaskey]

Is that a debris ball? What type of debris if it is? Nevermind I see it was when the video of the heli was broadcasting live and there was a lot of roofing in the air.

Here is the 6:40PM KOKC reflectivity of the Moore, OK cell showing quite the wrap-up.

 

[Stan Rose]

I'll be surprised I it gets rated higher than EF-1. No tornado watch was in effect, it was a blue box.

 

[James Gustina]

http://fox2now.com/2015/03/25/live-tv-coverage-of-tornado-on-the-ground-in-moore-oklahoma/

 

[Zack Cooper]

Ive also heard a lot of third hand statements such as the one Jake mentioned above, about "local television was actually broadcasting live video of the tornado" Where is the video--id like to see it.