4/17/08 NOW: TX/OK/KS

[Michael O'Keeffe]

It looks like a very nice supercell has developed in NW Texas in Young County close to Olney as well as a few other storms along the cold front. Currently the severe warned storm in Young county is the best looking storm by far.


Also, had a severe thunderstorm come through about an hour ago and dropped quarter-sized hail on the house. Got some video I may upload to youtube. If I do I will post a link to it.

Edit: Cell that is now in Jack County, TX has made a right turn to the east which could mean trouble as it moves off the cold front.

 

[Stuart Robinson]

Astonishing that the cell first went up SW of Throckmorton and soon fell behind the front – However looking at radar loop the cell seems to be moving NE at such a clip that it has already caught up with the front and looks to cross it again into the warm sector and a much better environment.

 

[Bart_Comstock]

A very nice looking supercell just passed over Palo Pinto and has some nice structure to it on radar. It has that nice "v" shape to it with a good looking hook and the BV and SRV doesn't look bad either. This could be very bad for the DFW metro shortly as the cell has turned right and is heading almost due east.

EDIT: Well not surprisingly the storm has gone tor warned, this comes just after rush hour and there will still be plenty of people on the road in metro as this moves into it, lets hope for the best and that it only looks like a beast on radar and will spare the city.

 

[Andrew Ryan]

It's sort of lost its "flying eagle" look but it looks like it developed a bit of a backwards hook echo. This storm is definitely something to watch!

 

[skipper bennett]

I can confirm that. Broken windows on house.......cars of folks we know have lost rear windows, streets carpeted in branches and leaves. I live on north side of MW. Circulation appears to have gone south of the city. Look out Weatherford.

 

[Jason Montano]

This site has live feed of wall cloud associated with Weatherford, TX sup.

http://cbs11tv.com/

The feed is not great but confirms what radar shows of a rotating wall cloud in that area. This will not be good if it continues on it's current path.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Man, what an impressive reflectivity structure of the supercell near Weatherford, TX, right now! Surface observations show that the storm is just moving into the better moisture (>= 60F Td) now, and the strong rightward-deviating motion is likely enhancing SRH quite a bit. SPC mesonalysis shows 0-1km SRH >200 m2/s2 in northcentral Texas, where winds have backed in the past couple of hours. In addition, deep-layer shear vector is more veered (i.e. more normal to the front) in northcentral Texas than it is farther north in Oklahoma, which, combined with the stronger instability, may explain why we're seeing a semi discrete mode in TX while a linear mode dominates farther north.

I tell ya, mother nature always surprises me... 1000-1500 j/kg SBCAPE is enough to support a supercell with 70-80 dBz low-level reflectivity? I know, I know -- buoyancy as measured by CAPE is only half of the equation when it comes to updraft velocity/intensity in supercells (vertical perturbation pressure gradients being the other), but I always get a kick when I see extreme dBz values in relatively low-instability environments. The supercell has managed to stay right near the leading edge of the cooler air, so it may be ingesting vorticity rich inflow enhanced by baroclinic generation along the along the front.

 

[Bob Schafer]

Maybe it's because GR3 is relatively new to me, but isn't it a bit unusual for the greatest VIL to be within the meso? Debris?

<edit> Man, 73dBZ core right over I-20... Gonna be vehicles mangled up there.

 

[N. Shaw]

I am sitting in Benbrook watching the South side of that cell. Lots of rotation being reported but not seeing too much from where I am.

 

[Bob Schafer]

3.75" hail now indicated as it heads into the Ft Worth metroplex.
<edit> Now 4", but I'm not entirely sure how that is possible with a storm that likely isn't rotating much. Looks kinda "gusted".

 

[Jake Wallentine]

According to that live feed Jason posted, a trained spotter reported a brief tornado 6-7miles north of Aledo about 5-10 mins ago.

 

[Jonathan Whitehead]

Its hooking again just NW of I-30/820W loop

dime-quarter hail reported at Cresson

 

[Chris Lott]

Looks to be passing very close to downtown Ft. Worth pretty soon. Still showing 2" hail. In between Benbrook and Ft. Worth is where I would be concerned right now.

 

[Jonathan Whitehead]

Nice gust front out ahead of storms on radar in western Johnson and Somervall Co

This day is giving me deja vu to the Haltom City tornado not a year ago this week, very similar scenario with squall line and brief period of break in line that resulted in said tornado with gust front just south of that storm that trailed into Hood and Somervall Co

EDIT: meso?inflow notch? just over Haltom City/NRH ATTM...is it still inflow dom?

 

[Chris Lott]

Channel 8 in Dallas is showing a shot of Ft. Worth from their helicopter, and it looks like they've been hit by an ice storm. People have slid off the road from all the hail accumulation on the roads.