Monday, May 7, 2012

Severe Thunderstorms Possible from OH Valley back to Southern Plains Today...


A rather broad threat for strong to severe storms will exist again today along and ahead of a slow moving frontal boundary stretching from the Ohio Valley back into southwest Texas.  The greatest risk of severe storms will take place within the yellow shaded areas on the above image.


In particular, there is a pocket over southwest and southcentral Texas where conditions appear most favorable for damaging wind gusts, mainly from 6pm until just after Midnight tonight, as shown by the red shaded area on the image below:



Very large hail is also possible in this region, with hailstones possibly exceeding 2 inches in diameter within the black hatched area on this image (which includes the Austin/San Antonio corridor and points West into the Hill Country):


Large hail is also favored within the red shaded area from extreme Northeast Texas across northwest Louisiana and southern Arkansas.  The lack of the black hatching in this area means that parameters don't necessarily favor hailstones to exceed 2 inches in diameter, but that is still possible on an isolated basis in this region as well.

Thunderstorms will develop and become most numerous during the late afternoon and into the evening hours.  While an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out with any particularly well organized severe storms across the outlook areas today, that does not appear to be a pronounced threat in any particular region at this time.

If you live across any of the severe weather outlook areas for today, please remain alert.  Listen to NOAA Weather Radio, local media or another trusted source for the latest information and possible warnings.

Take a few moments this morning to review severe weather safety tips and identify your best sheltering option, that way you can go there quickly if severe weather threatens or a warning is issued.

For more information, including "live blogging" during rapidly changing weather events, please be sure to follow me on facebook and/or twitter:
 

No comments: