TornadoVideos.net

Posted At: December 28, 2006 @ 3:55 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

              

A powerful "cut-off" vorticity maximum will induce a strong area of surface low pressure over the central Great Plains, resulting in intense/consistent upslope flow to the east of the Rocky Mountains in the CO/NM/WY Foothills and adjacent Plains.  This upslope flow will result in heavy snows with 20+ inches of accumulation through Saturday morning across the entire region (above left).  Very heavy snows of 2+ inches per hour had already developed over the Foothills of CO and NM (see MD above right), with much more to come. 

Meanwhile, the warm sector of this same low pressure system will support the development of severe thunderstorms on Friday in central and south Texas.  Given the presence of a strong low-level jet of 30-50 knots in the warm sector, supercells capable of producing tornadoes are likely if instability can develop.  The SPC Day 2 Convective Outlook is displayed below, followed by the WRF forecast CAPE and 850 mb wind.
       
The WRF forecast CAPE (left) and 850 mb wind (right) for 18z Thursday (midday) are displayed below.  Note that 1500-2000 J/kg CAPE are forecast along the I-35 corridor in south Texas, with a ~40 kt. 850 mb jet just to the east of the dryline.  If this CAPE forecast verifies, the stage could be set for tornadic supercells in south Texas on Friday!  Joel, Matt Chatelain, and I will definitely be chasing this area tomorrow...so stay tuned to the GPS tracker.
         

Posted At: December 25, 2006 @ 1:49 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

     

A southeast U.S. severe weather outbreak, typical of an El Nino event during winter, has been ravaging parts of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas on Christmas Day.  Three tornado watches were in effect as of midday, with over a dozen tornado warnings issued.  Two tornadoes have been reported in FL, with 4 homes demolished 3 miles west of Lake City in north-central FL early this morning.  Low-level wind shear is very strong ahead of a low pressure area in the Ohio River Valley, with 850 mb flow of 50+ knots over the southeast U.S. 

Later this week, severe weather outbreaks are possible on Dec 29 and 30 over the central Gulf Coast Region, and the TornadoVideos.net team is preparing for the chase.  I plan on meeting Joel and Matt Chatelain in Little Rock, AR the night of Dec 28.  Stay tuned for more updates and the live GPS tracker for the chases later this week!

Posted At: December 20, 2006 @ 10:43 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

An intense winter storm/blizzard is currently pounding the High Plains and Foothills of NM, CO, WY, and NE today, with 40+ mph wind gusts, heavy snow, and insane drifting.  2-3 feet of snow are forecast by most models over the higher elevations of CO, with widespread 10-20 inch snow amounts over the High Plains.  The watches/warnings map and national radar image from around 10:00 am CDT are shown below:
           

Posted At: December 7, 2006 @ 2:53 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

A textbook north-northwesterly flow lake effect has been pummeling the Great Lakes Region for the last few days, with up to two feet of snow falling in several areas.  Wind gusts of over 50 mph have occurred in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, with several areas reporting 15-30 inches of snowfall.  In the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, dominant single snowfall bands have set up in the north and the south, with 2-4 inch per hour snowfall rates common.  Grand Junction, MI, in Van Buren County near the Indiana border, reported 20 inches of new snow from this event.  Shown below is a radar image from the northern Lower Peninsula at ~4:00 pm EST, revealing an INTENSE lake effect band hammering the same areas.
          
Areas downwind of Lake Huron in southern Ontario, Canada also received HUGE amounts of snow from this lake effect event.  The radar image below shows an incredible lake effect band streaming off Lake Huron on Thursday afternoon.
          

Posted At: December 1, 2006 @ 1:40 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

As the intense deformation zone rotated through central OK, a few bands with snowfall rates of 2+ inches per hour pounded Norman, OK from 5:00 - 8:00 pm.  Lightning strikes were reported in Oklahoma and Grady County, and wind gusts over 40 mph caused major blowing and drifting of the snow with many drifts over 2 feet in depth.  TornadoVideos.net documented this winter storm during its peak intensity.  A few of our pictures from Norman, OK are posted below.

       

       

      
The intense snowband that yielded a majority of the accumulations in the Norman area can be seen in the radar image below from around 6:30 pm.  This band produced over 7 inches of snow in parts of southeast Cleveland County in only a few hours.