Archive for April 13th, 2012
Wild Weather Starts In Oklahoma
Looks like a tornado moved through Norman, OK around 4:30 CDT this afternoon. The OU campus is OK, but some significant damage is reported in other parts of town. Below is the velocity couplet as the tornado was moving through, and a freeze frame of a power flash in Norman as the tornado was moving through from KWTV in Oklahoma City…
Calm in Alabama This Weekend
An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player on the right sidebar of the blog. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.
THIS AFTERNOON: What a delightful spring day. We are enjoying a brilliantly sunny sky with temperatures in the 70s across the great state of Alabama this afternoon.
OUR WEEKEND: Our weekend looks good; generally dry and warmer with a partly sunny sky both days. The high tomorrow will be near 80, with low 80s likely Sunday. We will go ahead and insert the chance of a few isolated showers in the forecast Sunday afternoon, but most places should stay dry despite increasing humidity values.
TO THE WEST: A very dangerous weather situation is unfolding tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night from near the Red River (along the Texas/Oklahoma border) north into parts of Nebraska and Iowa. SPC has defined a high risk of severe weather for parts of the Great Plains, where they call it a “high end, life threatening situation”. Violent, long track tornadoes are likely in this region, that includes places like Oklahoma City, Wichita, and Omaha. If you know somebody in this zone, it is worth a call, text message, or social media message to let them know of the situation.
NEXT WEEK: Upper support weakens, and shear and instability values are pretty marginal in Alabama with the system over the Plains finally moves into our state early in the week, so severe weather here looks very unlikely at this point. We will mention a chance of showers and thunderstorms on both Monday and Tuesday, with rain amounts of 1/2 to one inch likely. Drier air begins to move into North Alabama Tuesday night, and the latter half of the week looks dry with warm afternoons (highs around 80).
See the Weather Xtreme video for more on the Great Plains threat tomorrow, and our weather for the next 15 days.
WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 90 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40.
CONNECT: You can find me on all of the major social networks…
I enjoyed speaking to the employees of Royal Cup today at Regions Park… what a great group of people. Brian Peters will have the video updates here tomorrow and Sunday; my next Weather Xtreme video will be posted bright and early Monday morning by 7:00 a.m. Enjoy the weekend!
Weekend Warm-Up Ahead
An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player on the right sidebar of the blog. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.
WARM-UP COMING: Temperatures are generally in the 40s across our state this morning, with some 30s over the colder pockets of Northeast Alabama. The warm-up begins this afternoon as we rise into the mid 70s with a good supply of sunshine. Another delightful spring day.
OUR WEEKEND: Afternoon temperatures will rise to near 80 tomorrow, with low 80s possible Sunday as the warming trend continues. The sky will be partly sunny over the weekend, and despite rising humidity levels we still don’t expect any significant chance of rain. We might consider mentioning a few isolated showers Sunday afternoon, but for now the risk of an one spot getting wet looks so small we won’t mention it in the forecast.
TO THE WEST: SPC has issued a rare “high risk” of severe weather for parts of Oklahoma and Kansas tomorrow, calling it a “high end, life threatening situation”. Pretty scary wording. No doubt the players are on the field, but we won’t really know the mesoscale setup until tomorrow at midday. Needless to say, all of our friends across the Southern Plains will be on high alert.
NEXT WEEK: The good news is that the system that is expected to produce a major tornado outbreak over the nation’s breadbasket will weaken by the time it reaches us, and the severe weather parameters continue to look very marginal. We might see showers or storms as early as Monday, but the most widespread coverage should come on Tuesday. Rain amounts of 1/2 to 1 inch look likely, and the rain should move out late Tuesday night. We will keep a close eye on developments over the weekend, but again at this point it looks like we will get away with only a very small risk of severe weather here, thankfully.
The latter half of the week will be dry and warm with a high around 80 Wednesday through Friday. See the Weather Xtreme video for more details and long range ideas.
WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 90 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40.
CONNECT: You can find me on all of the major social networks…
I will be speaking to the employees of Royal Cup coffee at midday… look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 or so this afternoon. Enjoy the day!
