4/22/04 NOW: Oklahoma/Western AR/Far North TX

Kevin Scharfenberg

Tornado watch issued east of Waurika-Burbank line in Oklahoma and western AR.

Discuss today's developments...
 
Tom Tackett and I are currently in Pauls Valley awaiting initiation here at 3:35 pm CDT. We were in Ardmore but decided to move just a little further north. It's humid as hell here I can tell you that and visibilities are about 10 miles from the moisture in the air.

Lots of CU in the area, some trying to tower and getting sheared off/squashed. Won't be long now, time to fire up the chainsaw.
 
The 15/18Z RUC are looking significantly better than the ETA in terms of tornadic potential. If it verifies, SE OK/SW AR could see some pretty good action towards 00Z and sunset due to the presence of much better low-level shear than we've seen around here in some time.
 
Anyone watching that supe east of Tulsa yet? - Developing the classic comma shape with more development in a line running to the SW (looks like OKC is safe for the time being as the development appears to be east of there).

Here's the radar breakdown on the Tulsa cell:

68 dBZ, movement=243@14kts, HT=19.8, MXSize=2.25, TVS=none, Meso=none (yet). H1 is the biggest on the board right now with more to follow soon, looks like.
 
That thing is going insanely intense - very quickly - - - TVS signature now detected... you can practically see it explode on radar. That is a very healthy storm - man I wish I was there! ... haven't looked at 500mb winds, but currently the cell is only at 14kts (could ride a bike and keep up), and might slow a bit with storm environment modification.
 
I didn't think enough of today's setup to head north into Oklahoma - too similar to yesterday, but in worse chase terrain - so I opted to stick around at home and take care of some work.

I have been watching the area of TCU between DFW and SPS all afternoon, though. Just saw the MCD regarding that area, and if something pops, I might run up 287 for a look. The cap's pretty stout south of the Red River, but there's been sustained moisture convergence in that spot for awhile now.
 
Regarding Red River area:

Early radar returns popping up just south of the river as well ... looks like a big line is getting ready to scream ... and with improved wind profiles today, we will likely see chasers coming home with something to show us tonight.

Mike
envious armchair chaser
 
Broken Arrow

Got a buddy up there that says his house was close to getting hit. Same thing the other day. What will the next "major city" tornado location be? Dallas is prime. Ft. Worth got theirs a few years ago.
 
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