Red is air moving away from the radar. Green is wind moving toward it. When they mix like that, it's concerning.
Here are the tornado tracks from Monday in Grant County, the storm in the above radar image. Image from NWS, Norman.
As I watched the Thunder game Monday (#thunderup), I couldn’t help but watch actual thunder--and lightning and hail and rain and tornadoes--roll across northern Oklahoma.
To the right, you will see a screenshot of the radar app on my phone that shows the velocity in the storm between Deer Creek and Medford in Grant County, just west of I-35. That swirly red and green spot? That’s a large area of strong rotation. While that doesn't necessarily mean there is a tornado, it's an indication that there is some rotation in the storm.
Thankfully, most of that area is quite rural, so damage and serious injuries were at a minimum. The Norman NWS office is still gathering more information on the tornadoes.
They do have tracks, though. Here is the map. (My friend: “Wasn’t Wakita…” Me: “The town that was destroyed in
Twister? Yes. Yes it was.”)
I was also watching those storms up in Nowata and Osage counties on Sunday and Monday. The Tulsa NWS office has issued its preliminary reports on these. Here we go:
- Fairfax, OK (Osage County) Tornado
EF-1 with estimated peak wind of 90 mph
Began: 8:57pm CDT April 29, 2012, 7 miles east of Fairfax
Ended: 8:59pm CDT April 29, 2012, 13.6 miles southwest of Pawhuska
Path length: 1.3 miles Path width: 220 yards
Summary: The tornado damaged oak trees and 4 power poles near Bill Morris Road east of Fairfax. The tornado path may well have been longer but few public roads exist in the area, making it impossible to survey all the areas where tornado damge could have occurred.
- Dewey, OK area (Osage County) possible Tornado
The NWS survey team could not access the most likely location for tornado damage west of Dewey near Lake Hudson. The team found tree damage near the Lake Hudson Dam, but not a defined path. A chaser may have filmed a brief tornado in this area. A final determination is pending a review of the video, radar data, and the tree damage pattern.
- Welch, OK (Craig County) Tornado
EF-2 with estimated peak wind of 110-120 mph
Began: 1:30 am CDT May 1, 2012, 1 mile north of Welch
Ended: 1:32 am CDT May 1, 2012, 1.8 miles northeast of Welch
Path length: 1 mile Path width: 150 yards
Summary: This tornado tore the roof off of a permanent home, shifted another home off its foundation, and blew out an exterior wall, turned over an outbuilding, rolled two horse trailers, destroyed a 40 foot by 60 foot steel framed barn, and snapped or uprooted trees. A person was injured in one of the permanent homes when the window in her bedroom shattered.
- Childers, OK (Nowata County) Tornado
EF-1 with estimated peak wind of 95-105 mph
Began: 8:59 pm CDT April 30, 2012, 2.3 mile northeast of Childers
Ended: 9:03 pm CDT April 30, 2012, 3.8 miles northeast of Childers
Path length: 1.5 mile Path width: 200 yards
Summary: The tornado snapped the trunks of a few hardwood trees, snapped limbs off of trees, and blew part of the roof off of a 40 foot by 40 foot pole barn.
Tulsa meteorologists are still conducting some surveys on areas up there to see if there were more tornadoes.
Tornadoes are always dramatic, but more impactful was
all the rain they got along the Kansas/Oklahoma border over the weekend and Monday.
A stationary front that stretched across the region was the focus of the rain along the border, with 5 to 6 inches widespread and some areas that recorded upwards of 10 inches.
And as that water made its way to area rivers, they rose quickly and dramatically. The Verdigris River near Lenapah came within a quarter of an inch of its major flood stage of 36 feet on Tuesday afternoon. It’s since started to fall back down.
That
river gauge is telling of what happened this weekend. You can see where the level rose slightly Sunday afternoon, then BAM; it went from 7 feet to 30 feet in 12 hours.That rise slowed a little before quickly jumping up again another 5 feet Monday night and Tuesday.
At 35.73 feet, it was the 17th highest crest on record.
Flood warnings continue for some rivers in the area, but most are expected to expire in the next 24 hours or so.
As those rivers fall and after the rain has left us, we have delightful weather now.
And this weekend! Highs are in the 90s and sunny. The next chance of rain isn’t until Sunday night. Finally, a nice weekend not threatened by rain. It’s the first one in several weeks.
Another fun weather fact from today: The hot spot in the state was 101 in Altus today. Well, that’s actually not very much fun. Sorry for misleading you there.
Happy May, everyone!
--Jerry Wofford
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