Jeff Piotrowski
EF3
Storm Exploded SW Knox TX Tornado watch!!
-
After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.
I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.
For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.
From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.
Sincerely, Jeff D.
5/1/09 NOW: TX/OK
- Thread starter Jeff Piotrowski
- Start date
Darrin Rasberry
20 minutes ago there's nothing but a few towers south of Benjamin, TX - now there's 52k+foot tops, half-dollar hail, and an SVR. I've never seen something go up that fast on a scan. Looks like the Battle of the (Dryline) Bulge has begun.
May wanna add AR and TN to the thread - TOR-warned storms are in TN and a few lone supes with SVR ATTM are traveling near Bentonville AR.
May wanna add AR and TN to the thread - TOR-warned storms are in TN and a few lone supes with SVR ATTM are traveling near Bentonville AR.
Jeff Passner
EF1
This will be interesting to watch from a meteorology stand point. The winds aloft are really, really weak. Jayton profiler and Fort Worth 1800 UTC winds are less than 20 knots even near 500 hPa. Actually Jayton does not reach 20 knots until 5-km MSL. Back to the west, TCC profiler showing no signs of stronger winds. It will be a battle to see how cells interact and if this can create the low-level convergence to create vorticity. The updraft speeds are obviously impressive, the storms exploded so we know the CAPE is there. Fun day to watch even if you're not there.
Larry J. Kosch
EF2
time to go storm chasing!!
Looking at the VIS SAT, I could clearly see the storm initiation in TX, right about on that intersecting outflow boundary in OK and a dry line extending down into TX. Time to fire up your engines chasers!!
Looking at the VIS SAT, I could clearly see the storm initiation in TX, right about on that intersecting outflow boundary in OK and a dry line extending down into TX. Time to fire up your engines chasers!!
afischer
EF4
The nose of the hot prod and meso low have managed to fire a discrete storm south of the sagging cold front, which is definitely good news for chasers. In the storm's inflow environment, Aspermont shows 94/61F and a co-op ob from Haskell shows 90/64F. Cloud bases should come down as the storm moves E/ESE toward the Seymour/Throckmorton corridor. However as mentioned above, flow through the trop is pretty marginal. Still, should be able to eek out a typical-Northwest-TX-HP-supercell given MLCAPE > 3500 J/kg and deep layer shear around 30 kt. Wish I could be out there, but my chase vacation started 30 minutes ago (with a cold front sinking toward the Gulf Coast, which is typical) and I don't think I'll make it in time.
Andrew Stoller
EF5
Storm speeds should be reasonable. The cell that popped up near Knox City, TX is scraping along at 6 knots! Unfortunately with a lack of speed shear, these storms will likely be HP monsters and may create too much cold pooling.
Jeff Snyder
EF5
Larry -- the synoptic cold front is moving southward across most of Oklahoma and western Texas. I think that's the feature you're referring to on visible satellite obs. There are a couple of OFBs around northern Texas and far southern Oklahoma, but the main feature on surface obs, radar, and satellite is the cold front.
AFischer gave an assessment similar to what I'm thinking attm. I'm not as confident about the "as the storm moves E/ESE" comment, though. Storm motion yesterday was very, very slow (<= 10 kts), and the supercells moved SSEward when mature. It looks like there's some discrete propagation occurring with that cell as development is occurring on the SW flank of the main storm. This is yielding what looks like a due south motion. As you noted, obs near the storm indicate 25-35 F dewpoint depressions, which would give a pretty high LCL. It doesn't look like the wind profile is much different today than yesterday, so I'd expect mature supercells to move in a similar direction. Fortunately, it doesn't look like it'll move too quickly to the south or southeast, since surface winds veer to the due south direction once you get south of Hwy 380 (Aspermont to Throckmorton). I'm not chasing today owing to some things I need to get done before V2 starts next weekend, but I'm hoping for initiation closer to SPS...
Otherwise, extreme instability (SBCAPE > 4000 j/kg) can certainly compensate for relatively marginal shear, so I do think there is a tornado threat this afternoon and evening, particularly relatively early in the storm evolution. I'm concerned about downdraft containment with any supercell that's more than a couple hours "old".
AFischer gave an assessment similar to what I'm thinking attm. I'm not as confident about the "as the storm moves E/ESE" comment, though. Storm motion yesterday was very, very slow (<= 10 kts), and the supercells moved SSEward when mature. It looks like there's some discrete propagation occurring with that cell as development is occurring on the SW flank of the main storm. This is yielding what looks like a due south motion. As you noted, obs near the storm indicate 25-35 F dewpoint depressions, which would give a pretty high LCL. It doesn't look like the wind profile is much different today than yesterday, so I'd expect mature supercells to move in a similar direction. Fortunately, it doesn't look like it'll move too quickly to the south or southeast, since surface winds veer to the due south direction once you get south of Hwy 380 (Aspermont to Throckmorton). I'm not chasing today owing to some things I need to get done before V2 starts next weekend, but I'm hoping for initiation closer to SPS...
Otherwise, extreme instability (SBCAPE > 4000 j/kg) can certainly compensate for relatively marginal shear, so I do think there is a tornado threat this afternoon and evening, particularly relatively early in the storm evolution. I'm concerned about downdraft containment with any supercell that's more than a couple hours "old".
Stuart Robinson
EF5
The Benjamin / Haskell storm has just tornadoed apprantly
" MPH. HASKELL COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE AND AN OFF DUTY NWS EMPLOYEE
REPORTED A BRIEF TORNADO WHICH HAS SINCE LIFTED. HOWEVER...THE
STORM CONTINUES TO ORGANIZE AND ANOTHER TORNADO MAY DEVELOP AT
ANY TIME."
" MPH. HASKELL COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE AND AN OFF DUTY NWS EMPLOYEE
REPORTED A BRIEF TORNADO WHICH HAS SINCE LIFTED. HOWEVER...THE
STORM CONTINUES TO ORGANIZE AND ANOTHER TORNADO MAY DEVELOP AT
ANY TIME."
Matthew Crowther
EF3
Mike Umscheid just saw a 2-3 minute tornado west of O'Brien, it dissipated but there is still a blocky wall cloud
Andrew Stoller
EF5
Last edited by a moderator:
Brian McKibben
EF3
it looks like the storm was cycling. there is a decent hook showing up on Dyess AFB radar.
Eric Bucsela
EF2
...and a decent velocity couplet, about ~8 mi SW of Rochester (near Jud)
Adam Atkins
EF2
Looks like a dream storm to chase. Slow moving, right turning, isolated supercell in flat terrain.
Stuart Robinson
EF5
Classic radar presention right now - however I fear for the community of Rule Texas which is going to be impacted by this storm real soon - lets hope that it can hold off until it has passed.
Last edited by a moderator:
Andrew Stoller
EF5
http://www.severestudios.com/cgi-bin/player.pl?username=jeffrey.gonzales&uid=270
Funnel with RFD. Tornado reported about 10 minutes ago.
Funnel with RFD. Tornado reported about 10 minutes ago.
