May '10 Weather Discussion

[Thunder]

Ryan on KOCO quoted from the NWS press conference that we all watched LIVE online that the person from NWS was saying "Wednesday is looking a lot like Monday."

Yeah, we're not done yet. More chaos is coming!

[westsidesooner]

I forgot to mention that video of the white van on hwy 9......that was incredible footage. Can you imagine what they were thinking when their van took off?

[Insider]

I forgot to mention that video of the white van on hwy 9......that was incredible footage. Can you imagine what they were thinking when their van took off?

That video is from about 0.25 miles from my home! I was at work on the phone with my wife who was at home hunkered in the closet. I managed to keep her side tracked until after it passed. It was really nerve racking to know that it was that close to her and there was nothing I could do but watch...

[PennyQuilts]

I forgot to mention that video of the white van on hwy 9......that was incredible footage. Can you imagine what they were thinking when their van took off?

No, but I can easily imagine what they were SAYING!

[blangtang]

it might have been the tv weather channel i was watching, but it seemed the norman hiway 9 tornado came up real sudden, or maybe it was the tv people were all focused on the thing going thru moore, it was pretty sudden living here near downtown norman. right when they showed the chopper footage of the twister on highway nine, 2 seconds later the power went out. that was a bit of a creepy feeling.

hardly got any rain at my place

[venture]

It did spin up pretty fast. Watched the rotating wall cloud approach the house and the surface wind was pretty good. Watched a cone area form looking down and noticed the rotating debris cloud behind some houses on the south side of the subdivision. So I would definitely say it spun up fast. Would also I that I probably shouldn't have been outside at that time incase it dropped a little further north. LOL

[venture]

Public information statement
national weather service norman ok
1150 am cdt wed may 12 2010

...preliminary damage survey results from may 10th outbreak...

As a result of the tornadic supercells that crossed through central oklahoma on may 10 2010...we received many tornado reports and damage reports. Therefore...six separate damage survey teams were deployed tuesday to assess the damage. Here are some preliminary results.

Remember that this information is subject to change pending further investigation. We are still investigating other damage areas and it will take some time to compile the details of each storm.

Special thanks go to volunteers from the national severe storms laboratory...vortex 2...warning decision training branch...the storm prediction center...and the ou school of meteorology for their assistance in the numerous damage surveys required. Also thanks to the emergency managers and storm spotters and chasers around oklahoma who provided invaluable information both during and after the event.


...northern kay county /two tornado tracks/...

No specific information is available for these tornadoes yet. Two parallel tornado tracks were found...and these were thought to be from the same parent thunderstorm. One crossed into kansas near interstate 35...and the other paralleled that track about two miles to the south. Both of these tracks extended west into grant county...but the survey team did not have time to assess that section of the track.

The portion of the northern storm track in kay county achieved a maximum rating of ef-3. 5 miles northwest of braman...a 3 story
house was destroyed with this tornado. The portion of the southern storm track in kay county achieved a maximum rating of ef-1. More information will become available about these two tornadoes in subsequent days.


...moore to harrah tornado...

Rating: Ef-3
max width: 1/2 to 3/4 miles
path length: Around 23 miles
begin point: About 3.6 ssw moore
end point: About 1.9 s harrah

the tornado began somewhere just west of interstate 35 and indian hills road and moved to the northeast. A broad area of primarily tree damage was noted through most of the track in moore...between the interstate and stanley draper lake. The damage path became more focused and intense after the tornado had passed over stanley draper lake. Areas of ef-2 to ef-3 damage were noted from near hiwassee road and se 89th through most of the remainder of the track. Near interstate 40...the tornado impacted several businesses...with ef-3 damage noted at a loves gas station and ef-2 damage across the street to the sonic restaurant.


...northern pottawatomie county...

Rating: Ef-3
max width: 1/2 mile
path length: Around 9 miles
begin point: About 4.7 nnw pink
end point: About 5.0 nw shawnee

this tornado developed less than a mile inside of the pottawatomie county border and moved northeast...lifting just before it reached interstate 40. Significant damage was observed along the path. Several homes were destroyed except for one or two interior walls. Some trees were debarked. Metal poles from a barn...embedded in concrete...were ripped out of the ground with the concrete still attached. A train box car was rolled about 300 yards.


...norman to little axe to pink tornado...

Rating: Ef-3
max width: 1/2 mile
path length: At least 16 miles
begin point: About 3.2 s norman
end point: Not yet assessed

this tornado damage path is not yet completely surveyed. The survey team had to stop the survey just west of the cleveland-pottawatomie county border. At this time...it appears as though this damage path is separate from the damage path that began near tecumseh. This tornado developed very close to the national weather center. Damage intensity increased gradually along the length of the path. The most severe damage was noted from near the little axe school to the county line. In the clear damage path...trees were stripped of some bark and branches. Large objects were thrown considerable distances...including some concrete pillars and metal bleachers near the little axe school that were tossed or rolled several hundred yards. Some appliances were also lofted as a dryer was found to have settled about 50 feet up in a tree. There was also considerable structural damage...as some foundation homes were mostly destroyed. This tornado also crossed lake thunderbird and damaged a marina with about 300 boats.


...other norman tornado...

Rating: Ef-1
max width: Not yet assessed
path length: Around 1.5 miles
begin point: About 3.6 s norman
end point: About 3.6 se norman

a gap in damage was noted to the south of the main damage path closer to highway 9. Another tornado damage path was found further to the south. This separate tornado was also corroborated by a few independent eyewitnesses. Minor damage to homes and tree damage was noted along this parallel tornado track.


...tornado that merged east of lake thunderbird...

Rating: Ef-2
max width: 1/4 mile
path length: About 7 miles
begin point: About 8.5 ene noble
end point: About 2.7 sw pink

another tornado developed in central cleveland county...and the damage path continued northeast until it was found to merge with the primary tornado track that had crossed lake thunderbird. In addition to tree damage...a cell tower was mangled and downed...and the country boy local store along highway 9 received some structural damage. Near this store...and towards the merger point...the structural damage and tree damage were supportive of an ef-2 rating.


...tecumseh to cromwell and points east tornado...

Rating: Ef-3
max width: 3/4 to 1 mile
path length: At least 30 miles only counting nws norman portion
begin point: About 2.8 wsw tecumseh
end point: Continued into nws tulsa area about 0.8 e cromwell

this long track tornado moved from pottawatomie county into seminole county...and then crossed into okfuskee county which is in the nws tulsa county warning area. The tornado caused significant damage along the entire track...with no notable gaps in damage along the length of the path surveyed. At times...the damage field widened to about 3/4 of a mile wide...possibly up to 1 mile wide. The most intense damage seemed to be just north and northeast of earlsboro near the pottawatomie-seminole county border. It was in this location that a 5 bedroom...2 story foundation house was destroyed except for several interior walls near the bathroom. In this same vicinity...a pickup truck appeared to have been lofted for about 1/4 mile...and a semi trailer was rolled or lofted for a few hundred yards. Both of these large missiles were drawn from the northern half of the damage path towards the center. A little further east...7 high tension towers were downed. Along the entire path...tree damage was noted...and a few trees were debarked and stripped of all their branches.


...central carter county...

Rating: Ef-3
max width: 400 yards
path length: 4.9 miles
begin point: About 6.0 nnw lone grove
end point: About 7.0 n lone grove

photographs from area residents indicate this was a wedge tornado. At least four mobile homes and 1 foundation home were destroyed. The foundation home had nearly all exterior walls removed with only interior walls remaining. Other homes and outbuildings in the area sustained minor to moderate damage. Widespread tree and power line damage was noted along the length of the track...and some high tension lines were downed near the area of most intense damage.


...eastern love county...

Rating: Ef-1
max width: 150 to 200 yards
path length: Around 2 miles
begin point: About 5.1 ene marietta
end point: About 7.3 ene marietta

lots of tree damage noted along the track. Near the beginning of the path a local store was damaged...and this damage was rated ef-1. Other outbuildings along the track were damaged. Surveyors followed the track as far as they could as the path ended near the red river. Several independent eyewitness reports suggested that two tornadoes occurred about 10 minutes apart...in the same damage path in this area. We continue to investigate that theory...and in the meantime the damage will be classified as one tornado.

[mugofbeer]

You're great, Venture. Thanks for the fascinating information!

[mugofbeer]

Line of storms starting to fill in from Wichita to Altus.....

[bandnerd]

My poor mom is down in Love county. I think that's the first tornado since the one when I was in 8th grade that tore up the Uniroyal plant in Ardmore. I called her when they were under the warning, and could hear the sirens over the phone (glad to know they are loud and close!).

I called after and she said she had been hiding in the closet, and that she is "too old for this sh!t." We almost never got tornadoes down by the river. This was a rare occurance.

[Thunder]

Live Wire | Oklahoma Live Wire -- KOCO.com Breaking News, Weather (May 12) | TORNADO EMERGENCY

We are all on the LiveWire bracing for another Tornado Emergency day.

[sacolton]

It's coming!!!

[Thunder]

There is streaming videos on the LiveWire. Chaser on the storm at the OK/KS border producing a tornado and Sky 5 down southwest near Altus covering a potential tornado storm racing 50+ mph up toward the metro!

[OKCisOK4me]

Whoever lives in the rural areas between Waynoka & Freedom is gettin a boat load of rain for the last 30 minutes! I want to see a rain gauge report tonight on one of the local stations.

[OKCisOK4me]

Can anyone, not on KOCO's Live Wire, say why no storms are forming south of the big storm on I-40?

[Peach fuzz]

Wow I chose the wrong night to go back home to Clinton... watched a funnel yesterday driving to yukon and this one tonight formed right over the house. I've never had that feeling before standing right under a developing tornado... the air was very still but it was whirling all around us. I cant even begin to describe the feeling of energy... it was so intense I had know clue what to think of it haha

[OKCisOK4me]

Wow I chose the wrong night to go back home to Clinton... watched a funnel yesterday driving to yukon and this one tonight formed right over the house. I've never had that feeling before standing right under a developing tornado... the air was very still but it was whirling all around us. I cant even begin to describe the feeling of energy... it was so intense I had know clue what to think of it haha

It was, technically, a 7 or 8 mile wide rotating base... Last time I saw something like that was May 8th, 2003, in Edmond...

[Thunder]

Can anyone, not on KOCO's Live Wire, say why no storms are forming south of the big storm on I-40?

No clue. It is a mystery. Storms that kept firing up down there kept dying after they passed Lawton. If they didn't die, those would've been a major tornado potentials.

Now, there is some storms that had fired up down there and getting bigger. On their way here...

[venture]

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0538
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0159 AM CDT THU MAY 13 2010

AREAS AFFECTED...PARTS OF SWRN INTO CENTRAL OK

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH NEEDED SOON

VALID 130659Z - 130730Z

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE STORMS TO CONTINUE
DEVELOPING ACROSS SWRN OK/NW TX AND TRACK NEWD INTO CENTRAL OK EARLY
THIS MORNING. A WATCH ISSUANCE WILL BE COORDINATED BETWEEN THE SPC
AND THE AFFECTED LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES SHORTLY.

..PETERS.. 05/13/2010


ATTN...WFO...OUN...

[venture]

Ulletin - immediate broadcast requested
severe thunderstorm watch outline update for ws 162
nws storm prediction center norman ok
205 am cdt thu may 13 2010

severe thunderstorm watch 162 is in effect until 600 am cdt
for the following locations

okc015-019-027-031-033-049-051-063-067-081-087-099-109-123-125-
133-137-131100-
/o.new.kwns.sv.a.0162.100513t0705z-100513t1100z/

ok
. Oklahoma counties included are

caddo carter cleveland
comanche cotton garvin
grady hughes jefferson
lincoln mcclain murray
oklahoma pontotoc pottawatomie
seminole stephens


txc077-131100-
/o.new.kwns.sv.a.0162.100513t0705z-100513t1100z/

tx
. Texas counties included are

clay


attn...wfo...oun...

[venture]

Severe thunderstorm watch probabilities for ws 0162 nws storm prediction center norman ok
0203 am cdt thu may 13 2010

ws 0162
probability table:
Prob of 2 or more tornadoes : 20%
prob of 1 or more strong /f2-f5/ tornadoes : 05%
prob of 10 or more severe wind events : 30%
prob of 1 or more wind events >= 65 knots : 30%
prob of 10 or more severe hail events : 30%
prob of 1 or more hail events >= 2 inches : 30%
prob of 6 or more combined severe hail/wind events : 70%

&&
attribute table:
Max hail /inches/ : 2.0
max wind gusts surface /knots/ : 60
max tops /x 100 feet/ : 500
mean storm motion vector /degrees and knots/ : 24045
particularly dangerous situation : No

[OKCisOK4me]

Nevermind about my earlier post...

[sacolton]

Something big is brewing south of Ardmore! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!!!

[venture]

Two tornadoes were upgraded to EF-4s from the May 10th outbreak.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/?n=events-20100510

Maps from NWS OUN:

[venture]

DAY 1 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0752 AM CDT SUN MAY 16 2010

VALID 161300Z - 171200Z

...THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS OVER PARTS OF THE S CNTRL
U.S....

...SYNOPSIS...
BROAD...LOOSELY-ORGANIZED TROUGH WILL CONTINUE E ACROSS THE CNTRL
STATES THIS PERIOD AS UPSTREAM FULL-LATITUDE TROUGH OVER THE E
PACIFIC FURTHER AMPLIFIES AND ASSUMES A NEGATIVE TILT OFF THE W CST
EARLY MON. FEATURES WILL REMAIN WEAK AT THE SFC. A WEAK SFC LOW
WILL MOVE ENE FROM WRN TN TO THE SRN APPALACHIANS THROUGH THE
PERIOD...WHILE A DIFFUSE FRONT PERSISTS IN ITS WAKE FROM NRN AR W/NW
TO THE SRN/CNTRL HI PLNS.

...SRN PLNS INTO SRN OZARKS/ARKLATEX...
WHILE FLOW IN MOST AREAS WILL REMAIN FAIRLY WEAK...A 30-40 KT WLY
MID LVL JET WILL PERSIST TODAY OVER OK AND N TX ON SRN SIDE OF
SLOWLY-PROGRESSIVE CNTRL PLNS UPR LOW. THIS FEATURE WILL BE
ACCOMPANIED BY SEASONABLY COOL MID LVL TEMPS /AROUND MINUS 15 C AT
500 MB/. COUPLED WITH PWS OF 1.00-1.25 INCHES AND MODERATE TO
STRONG SFC HEATING...SETUP SHOULD FOSTER THE DEVELOPMENT NUMEROUS
DIURNALLY-ENHANCED STORMS ALONG AND S OF AFOREMENTIONED FRONT.
SATELLITE LOOP SUGGESTS THAT DEEP FLOW OVER REGION REMAIN CYCLONIC
NATURE THROUGH THE DAY AS ADDITIONAL SMALLER SCALE DISTURBANCES
AMPLIFY ESEWD FROM THE CNTRL/CNTRL RCKYS. WEAK LOW LVL FLOW
SURMOUNTED BY LARGELY UNIDIRECTIONAL FLOW ALOFT SHOULD SUPPORT
SUSTAINED MULTICELL CLUSTERS AND PERHAPS A FEW MARGINAL
SUPERCELLS...WITH A VERY GOOD CHANCE FOR HAIL. FARTHER S...OTHER
STORMS...INCLUDING SUPERCELLS...MAY REDEVELOP/EVOLVE FROM ONGOING
CLUSTER NOW NEAR THE TX BIG BEND. AVAILABILITY OF RICH MOISTURE IN
THIS REGION MAY COMPENSATE FOR MORE LIMITED DEEP SHEAR TO YIELD A
THREAT FOR LARGE HAIL AND POSSIBLY A TORNADO. THE SVR THREAT
THROUGHOUT THE S CNTRL STATES SHOULD DIMINISH ...THOUGH NOT ENTIRELY
VANISH...WITH SUNSET.