weatherwiz Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 The TOR jackpot of Texas is actually in the panhandle near Amarillo and down toward Lubbock and actually across the border into Clovis NM. They get hammered...a very popular spot for early season chasing. The Dallas area is also another local jackpot...the Austin area down toward Del Rio is actually not a big TOR area...but they can obviously get them, and they have their fair share of huge hail. Oh yeah, the Lubbock area is a major hot spot...always hearing about something going on near them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arnold214 Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 So it was a left mover? Pretty sick. Was there some sort of outflow boundary that helped to push it in that direction? Or did it develop along any sort of outflow boundary? http://www.spc.noaa.gov/coolimg/jarrell/animjrlr.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 http://www.spc.noaa....ll/animjrlr.htm The low level windshrear was sickening in that....probably not captured all the way by a sounding which obviously is spaced a bit. You had like 25 knots out of the SE at the sfc (or near sfc) while only 1-2km overhead was W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwiz Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 See Arnold's post from above...I'm not an expert on that stuff....but it def had a very defined boundary which was obscenely visible on the vis satellite. But it was still weird that it traveled directly SW without an ounce of eastward movement while other storms were going W to E off to the west of it. It was an absolute monster storm though. It blew up before any of the storms to it's west blew up...it was the first storm of that outbreak. Probably preceded the others by 2 hours in its berth. Oh wow...that's pretty crazy that it actually was one of the first to develop. I would have guessed it was something that popped sometime during the event. He mentioned there was some outflow/defined boundary that helped steer it. Do you remember what the upper wind flow was? Sometimes in these cases where a storm will go in a crazy direction it can be due to the fact the updraft is so strong and intense that it actually gets steered by the upper level flow rather than the mean mid level flow. Anyways not really surprising that cell went on to produce that F3, not only b/c the instability but the storm is virtually moving against the wind flow so it must have created some insane helicity which really helped to fuel it even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 The low level windshrear was sickening in that....probably not captured all the way by a sounding which obviously is spaced a bit. You had like 25 knots out of the SE at the sfc (or near sfc) while only 1-2km overhead was W. In the minutes leading up to that storm SPECI KAUS 272140Z 11009KT 7SM +FC FEW030 BKN041 29/24 A2981 RMK TORNADO B39 12NW MOV S AO2 PRESRR TSTM NORTH MOVING SW LTG OBSERVED Nice ob, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwiz Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 http://www.spc.noaa....ll/animjrlr.htm Oh beautiful, thanks! So it definitely was all boundary/outflow that steered it then. Where did that boundary come from though? Seems like as that cell formed it created like a gust front and the gust front associated with the cells out west sort of collided with the gust from that cell and the cell just rode that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Oh wow...that's pretty crazy that it actually was one of the first to develop. I would have guessed it was something that popped sometime during the event. He mentioned there was some outflow/defined boundary that helped steer it. Do you remember what the upper wind flow was? Sometimes in these cases where a storm will go in a crazy direction it can be due to the fact the updraft is so strong and intense that it actually gets steered by the upper level flow rather than the mean mid level flow. Anyways not really surprising that cell went on to produce that F3, not only b/c the instability but the storm is virtually moving against the wind flow so it must have created some insane helicity which really helped to fuel it even more. The storm was an F5....it was an F3 in Cedar park...but an F5 north of that. Google Jarrell, TX tornado, and educate yourself. It was one of the worst tornadoes to hit the US in the past several decades. It killed dozens of people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arnold214 Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Oh beautiful, thanks! So it definitely was all boundary/outflow that steered it then. Where did that boundary come from though? Seems like as that cell formed it created like a gust front and the gust front associated with the cells out west sort of collided with the gust from that cell and the cell just rode that. The boundary was probably there for many hours before the storm even developed...probably leftover from overnight convection would be my guess. There was some gravity wave talk as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwiz Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 The storm was an F5....it was an F3 in Cedar park...but an F5 north of that. Google Jarrell, TX tornado, and educate yourself. It was one of the worst tornadoes to hit the US in the past several decades. It killed dozens of people. I just went to google and found some links. Just read that the boundary the cell rode along may have actually been a gravity wave that had traveled SW from KS from previous convection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 The boundary was probably there for many hours before the storm even developed...probably leftover from overnight convection would be my guess. There was some gravity wave talk as well. That storm might be the poster child for leftover boundaries enhancing a TOR threat. The satellite pic of that is one of the most ridiculous things I've seen when talking about boundaries and thunderstorms. It rode right down it and it was very visible. Not very often you get to see it that clearly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwiz Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 The boundary was probably there for many hours before the storm even developed...probably leftover from overnight convection would be my guess. There was some gravity wave talk as well. Just posted about the gravity wave possibility. I'm going to look more and see if there is further explanation on this but since gravity waves are associated with intense pressure rises/falls the intense pressure falls (I'm assuming there was some intense pressure falls along with it) really helped to spawn this monster as well...it was like a localized area of very intense height falls and as you know one ingredient you like to see with tornado outbreaks and major tornadoes are intense/rapid pressure falls. I'm sure as well this was already going on with the system spawning the storms approaching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arnold214 Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 That storm might be the poster child for leftover boundaries enhancing a TOR threat. The satellite pic of that is one of the most ridiculous things I've seen when talking about boundaries and thunderstorms. It rode right down it and it was very visible. Not very often you get to see it that clearly. Yeah, it rode right down the boundary (or more properly - propagated down the boundary) releasing the tremendous instability as it went. Almost like unzipping a zipper on a jacket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I just went to google and found some links. Just read that the boundary the cell rode along may have actually been a gravity wave that had traveled SW from KS from previous convection. It was actually a bit of a bust...that whole outbreak. I think SPC had a slight risk, but they were pretty pessimistic overall about the threat in Texas that day, they were much more bullish to the northeast. But I think the low level conditions completely outrode the upper level stuff which was kind of marginal. I could be totally wrong since I haven't read about it in years, but my recollection is that the lower level stuff became so hostile that it overided any smaller upper level deficiencies. I feel like there was a paper I read years ago that talked about the reason for the huge outbreak SW of where they thought it might be...but I'm starting to get old and losing my great short term memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwiz Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 This is a pretty sick satellite image Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Yeah, it rode right down the boundary (or more properly - propagated down the boundary) releasing the tremendous instability as it went. Almost like unzipping a zipper on a jacket. I bet there was like a 5000-6000 CAPE...or some ridiculous crap with good low level shear. As I said in my above post, I think low level stuff became off the charts...but I really would like to go back and confirm that. And there was just enough of a spark to set it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwiz Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 It was actually a bit of a bust...that whole outbreak. I think SPC had a slight risk, but they were pretty pessimistic overall about the threat in Texas that day, they were much more bullish to the northeast. But I think the low level conditions completely outrode the upper level stuff which was kind of marginal. I could be totally wrong since I haven't read about it in years, but my recollection is that the lower level stuff became so hostile that it overided any smaller upper level deficiencies. I feel like there was a paper I read years ago that talked about the reason for the huge outbreak SW of where they thought it might be...but I'm starting to get old and losing my great short term memory. There probably definitely is at least one paper out there on that. Plus too even though it was 1997 tornado forecasting still was a little shaky...After the May 3rd, 1999 event it seems like that lead to some significant progress in tornado forecasting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwiz Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I hope this works but here is the sat loop: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwiz Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 That is really jaw dropping, take a look at those overshooting tops...that's busting decently into the stratosphere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 That boundary is beyond visible on that sat pic....great loop. You can see it so easily. Unbelievable storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Now you can see why I scoff at SNE severe wx weatherwiz...while I didn't get Jarrell storms all that time, we got stuff that made our severe wx look like a light rain shower. Arnold is a bit more appreciative than me...he will like nickel sized hail and quarters more than I do, but he will also tell you that you need to go to the southern plains...Texas/OK/KS to get the real stuff. Hopefully this year we can get something cool like 1998, but I never hold me breath. Its like getting a 12" snowstorm in DC...you hope, but don't expect it. Its really fun to look at those old images though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwiz Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 One of the best locations to watch boundaries interact is in FL...when you get a sea-breeze traveling east from the Gulf of Mexico and then a sea-breeze from the Atlantic traveling west from the Atlantic when they collide they can lead to explosive and rapid convective development. This is extremely common during the summer months. Although they don't really produce a good amount of severe wx (freezing levels are pretty damn high, and winds aloft are usually weak so most of the wind is just produced through downbursts) they produce some sick lightning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwiz Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Now you can see why I scoff at SNE severe wx weatherwiz...while I didn't get Jarrell storms all that time, we got stuff that made our severe wx look like a light rain shower. Arnold is a bit more appreciative than me...he will like nickel sized hail and quarters more than I do, but he will also tell you that you need to go to the southern plains...Texas/OK/KS to get the real stuff. Hopefully this year we can get something cool like 1998, but I never hold me breath. Its like getting a 12" snowstorm in DC...you hope, but don't expect it. Its really fun to look at those old images though. I totally understand When I watch some of these videos of storms out west I think to myself, if I ever experienced that I may never be impressed here again. Hopefully we get something like that this year, I though 6/6 last year was the day but it wasn't. To me though I think that's what makes this kind of fun, is the thought of hope...going into each spring/summer season wondering if this is the one where I see something great. It's a similar feeling to what being a Red Sox fan was like pre-2004 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clinch Leatherwood Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Thunder and lightning for quite awhile here. Nasty, bad sleeping night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damage In Tolland Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 .90 inches of rain overnight..along with 2 big ,dead limbs that came down in the front yard..That was fun cleaning up at 5:30 am. Didn't hear any thunder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherMA Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Wow, I got screwed. All the stations near me only got around .20", it seems like not too far off got a significant amount more. There was no thunder/lightning here, either. Looks like some more rain on the way, hopefully we can approach 1". 43F and raw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastBayWx Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Wind is cranking from the East at 30 sustained, gusts to 38mph. Moderate rain, nice wave action on the bay. Spring FTL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Torchey Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 What a beautiful spring morning, windy, light rain, everything is neon green!! sunny and low 60s tom and fri, simply springsational. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jconsor Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 No way it's in the low 60s on Fri with onshore flow and a cold high building in. I think mid 50s at best for SW CT, with low 50s along the immediate shore (BDR, HVN). What a beautiful spring morning, windy, light rain, everything is neon green!! sunny and low 60s tom and fri, simply springsational. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Heaviest rain looks like it will be right over se mass..perhaps by the Canal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baroclinic Zone Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Heaviest rain looks like it will be right over se mass..perhaps by the Canal. Only 0.55" thus far since last night. Looks like a nice steady plume of moisture to come though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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