News - Blogs - Severe weather likely in Oklahoma today

Severe weather likely in Oklahoma today
Published: 4/14/2012 12:43 PM
Last Modified: 4/14/2012 12:44 PM

For those of you who have lived in this part of the county for a while, all you had to do was step outside this morning. You could feel the powder keg.

It's humid. It's (relatively) warm. It's windy out of the south. It's ominous.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center have already started issuing tornado watches for this high-risk day. It's something they have had on their radar (so to speak) for some time, issuing a high risk for severe storms more than a day before the expected onslaught. That rarely happens.

The latest update has the high risk category in a wide swath from central Oklahoma up through central Nebraska. Here, it bumps just right near Tulsa.

What is to blame? A strong storm system is moving its way into western Nebraska. That is sucking up warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico (those south winds we mentioned earlier) and with daytime heating and wind shear in the atmosphere creates instability and an environment that is "extremely favorable for tornadic supercells capable of long-track, damaging/violent tornadoes," the SPC says.

For Tulsa, that risk is certainly not as high as it is in central Kansas and north-central Oklahoma, but the risk is there. Unfortunately, the timing of the event looks to put the severe weather in the Tulsa area after dark, which, if you're going to have tornadoes, is the absolute worst time to do so.

So, tonight is definitely a night you need to be weather-aware. If you don't have a weather radio, get one. Those things are invaluable. If you have a smartphone, there are weather radio apps that can alert you no matter where you are of dangerous weather.

It's not something to be scared about, but it is something to be aware of and respect. Be safe, have a plan, and don't be a fool.

Follow my on the Twitter, where I will be sharing the latest updates from the pros. Also, if you see something and happen to snap a photo or video, send it to me! jerry.wofford@tulsaworld.com

--Jerry Wofford

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Almanac

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

	Temperature		Precipitation
Date	High Temp	Low Temp	Total	Month to date	Historical average
1	44°	16°	0	0.00	0.05
2	59°	24°	0	0.00	0.11
3	57°	33°	0	0.00	0.16
4	68°	37°	Trace	0.00	0.21
5	69°	29°	0	0.00	0.26
6	66°	33°	0	0.00	0.32
7	59°	38°	0.05	0.05	0.38
8	51°	34°	0	0.05	0.44
9	44°	36°	0.01	0.06	0.51
10	62°	37°	0.07	0.13	0.57
11	54°	28°	0	0.13	0.64
12	44°	30°	0.25	0.38	0.70
13	55°	40°	0.01	0.39	0.76
14	°	°			0.83
15	°	°			0.89
16	°	°			0.95
17	°	°			1.02
18	°	°			1.09
19	°	°			1.16
20	°	°			1.23
21	°	°			1.31
22	°	°			1.38
23	°	°			1.46
24	°	°			1.53
25	°	°			1.61
26	°	°			1.69
27	°	°			1.77
28	°	°			1.85

TEMPERATURE

RAINFALL

SNOWFALL

Weather World

Follow Jerry Wofford on Twitter for updates during severe weather conditions.

Tulsa weather milestones of 2013 (as of Feb. 12)

Highest temperature: 70 on Jan. 11 (Record: 115 on Aug. 15, 1936)
Lowest temperature: 15 on Jan. 16 (Record: Minus-16 on Jan. 22, 1930)
Hottest month (average): 40.5 degrees in January (Record: 91.7 degrees on July 1980)
Coldest month (average): 40. 5 degrees in January (Record: 21.7 in January 1918)
Most snowfall (day): 0.1 of an inch on Feb. 12(Record: 13.2 inches on Feb. 1, 2011)
Most snowfall (month): 0.1 of an inch in February(Record: 22.5 inches in February 2011)
Most rainfall (day): 0.91 of an inch on Jan. 29 (Record: 9.27 inches on May 26-27, 1984)
Most rainfall (month): 1.54 of an inch in January (Record: 18.18 inches on September 1971)
Highest wind speed: 30 mph on Jan. 30
Previous day with any rain: Feb. 12
Previous day with 1 inch or more of rain: Oct. 17, 2012
Previous day with any snow: Feb. 12
Previous day with freezing temperatures: Feb. 12
Read regular updates on Oklahoma's unpredictable weather and learn more about meteorology from the Tulsa office of the National Weather Service.

>> Visit the main weather page
>> Send us your weather photos
>> Meet the forecasters

Contributors
Staff Writer Althea Peterson started writing for the Tulsa World in March 2007 after previous stops at the Norman Transcript in 2006 and the Oklahoma Gazette in 2005. She followed her older brother from rural Wisconsin (with a public school that never seemed to call snow days) to the University of Oklahoma, but did not follow his pursuit to study meteorology. However, she tries to find as many opportunities to report on the weather as possible.

Staff Writer Jerry Wofford came to the Tulsa World in 2010 from The Manhattan Mercury in Manhattan, Kan. Originally from western Arkansas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Jerry has lived in Tornado Alley his entire life and is one of those people who goes outside when the sirens go off.

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