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May 4th - 16th Severe Weather Thread


andyhb

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WWUS53 KEAX 062323

SVSEAX

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO

623 PM CDT SUN MAY 6 2012

KSC091-062345-

/O.CON.KEAX.TO.W.0004.000000T0000Z-120506T2345Z/

JOHNSON KS-

623 PM CDT SUN MAY 6 2012

...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR CENTRAL JOHNSON COUNTY IN

EAST CENTRAL KANSAS UNTIL 645 PM CDT...

AT 620 PM CDT...A CONFIRMED TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR OLATHE...AND

MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

HAZARD...DAMAGING TORNADO AND QUARTER SIZE HAIL.

SOURCE...WEATHER SPOTTERS CONFIRMED TORNADO.

IMPACT...SIGNIFICANT HOUSE AND BUILDING DAMAGE POSSIBLE. MOBILE HOMES

COMPLETELY DESTROYED IF HIT. SOME TREES UPROOTED OR SNAPPED.

VEHICLES WILL LIKELY BE THROWN BY TORNADIC WINDS.

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From a subjective chasing-based perspective, I strongly agree. The pattern has been quite active with unseasonably-rich moisture available on the synoptic scale for most of the spring so far. What we have to show for all the "good parameter" days is relatively unimpressive. The recurring theme, in my eyes, has been troughs that hold back too far to the W of the target. The secondary problem has been BL moisture mixing out well beyond model forecasts. Both occurred yesterday. :lol:

April 14 was the saving grace for most chasers' sanity, or at least mine. It fell perhaps one peg short of my expectations during the daylight portion of the event, but was still one of the better dryline outbreaks you'll see that early in the year. Aside from that day, it has largely been an exhausting train of teases and low-payoff events... many of those with 50-100+ green SpotterNetwork icons returning home in disgrace at sunset. It's time for a break... and we're certainly getting one now, like it or not.

Actually, that does bring up a point which I had forgotten in my first reply to Buckeye. Going back to even February, we've had a lot of wasted *potential* this year, where the trough just didn't eject right. A lot of cutoffs and pieces of energy have been hanging back in the SW US ever since last Fall. I wonder if the Pacific jet just hasn't been as energetic this year, or if the ridging in the central and eastern U.S. has been anomalously strong (which explains the thermonuclear EMLs in the past few setups).

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Actually, that does bring up a point which I had forgotten in my first reply to Buckeye. Going back to even February, we've had a lot of wasted *potential* this year, where the trough just didn't eject right. A lot of cutoffs and pieces of energy have been hanging back in the SW US ever since last Fall. I wonder if the Pacific jet just hasn't been as energetic this year, or if the ridging in the central and eastern U.S. has been anomalously strong (which explains the thermonuclear EMLs in the past few setups).

Pretty much the entire late summer/fall/winter that was the general pattern. Really it took a couple freak deep PV's to break the streak near the end of winter. I still can't think of the last classic leeside Colorado Low. The two aforementioned PV's (one was end of February) were hybrids and somewhat rare occurrences. We may have to wait until fall at the rate we are going. April 14th was somewhat of a fluke too...from a cyclogenesis standpoint...it actually ejected in a relatively junky fashion...although it was great for the severe threat in terms of the vertical wind shear profile.

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Pretty much the entire late summer/fall/winter that was the general pattern. Really it took a couple freak deep PV's to break the streak near the end of winter. I still can't think of the last classic leeside Colorado Low. The two aforementioned PV's (one was end of February) were hybrids and somewhat rare occurrences. We may have to wait until fall at the rate we are going. April 14th was somewhat of a fluke too...from a cyclogenesis standpoint...it actually ejected in a relatively junky fashion...although it was great for the severe threat in terms of the vertical wind shear profile.

Wait until fall for what exactly? A decent system or an actual decent severe threat in general?

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Wait until fall for what exactly? A decent system or an actual decent severe threat in general?

Oh it was just me thinking out loud...mostly just a pessimistic view given the way the past 9 months have gone weather wise in the plains. I am mostly talking about a perfect trough/wave ejection, not necessarily a convective pattern. My thought has no basis is science or forecasting though, so take it with a grain of salt.

I used to be extremely weather pessimistic until I joined these forums and became active. I need to get back to that weather pessimism mode. I think the weather weenie approach has hurt my forecast abilities. In fact, I was such a weather pessimist people on these boards hated me because I would always point out what could go wrong instead of celebrate the day 7 weenie storms the models would spit out. I need to get back to that approach.

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Any other reports / confirmation of that TOG near Emporia north of Wichita 6:30 pm today?

We were on I35 just south of Wichita at that time riding along the weak cold front, looked like mostly low stratocumulus.

Nope... I live near Emporia, and didn't see/ hear of any TOG...

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Any other reports / confirmation of that TOG near Emporia north of Wichita 6:30 pm today?

We were on I35 just south of Wichita at that time riding along the weak cold front, looked like mostly low stratocumulus.

I watched it on a live stream, it was on the ground for about a minute. PD, KMBC chopper and multiple chasers confirmed it.

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Oh it was just me thinking out loud...mostly just a pessimistic view given the way the past 9 months have gone weather wise in the plains. I am mostly talking about a perfect trough/wave ejection, not necessarily a convective pattern. My thought has no basis is science or forecasting though, so take it with a grain of salt.

I used to be extremely weather pessimistic until I joined these forums and became active. I need to get back to that weather pessimism mode. I think the weather weenie approach has hurt my forecast abilities. In fact, I was such a weather pessimist people on these boards hated me because I would always point out what could go wrong instead of celebrate the day 7 weenie storms the models would spit out. I need to get back to that approach.

Haha I know what that is like. My sometimes unreasonable pessimism can rub people the wrong way.

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He mentioned a TOG near Emporia, North of Wichita around 6:30PM... That's why I mentioned Emporia...

My mistake, there was a cell near Emporia but never any funnel or TOG.

So far:

Miles driven: 600

Supercells seen: 0

We are headed to Texas. The southwest flow off the ULL may give the best chance tomorrow and best cape looks like in central Texas.

Making the best of a bad week to chase...

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I used to be extremely weather pessimistic until I joined these forums and became active. I need to get back to that weather pessimism mode. I think the weather weenie approach has hurt my forecast abilities. In fact, I was such a weather pessimist people on these boards hated me because I would always point out what could go wrong instead of celebrate the day 7 weenie storms the models would spit out. I need to get back to that approach.

But we got wxmann for that :P

I wonder if the Pacific jet just hasn't been as energetic this year, or if the ridging in the central and eastern U.S. has been anomalously strong (which explains the thermonuclear EMLs in the past few setups).

I'd say it's probably the latter, considering the Leap Day and 3/2 systems were the only ones it seems to have really shunted the ridge at all over the past several months. The 4/14 system, for example, had a very intense jet max (90-100+ kts at H5, 120+ at H3/H25), but the stubbornness of the ridge probably prevented it from realizing its true potential (although we still ended up with one of the bigger Plains outbreaks in awhile) and also helped to screw up the setup across the GL/Upper MS Valley the next day...

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My mistake, there was a cell near Emporia but never any funnel or TOG.

So far:

Miles driven: 600

Supercells seen: 0

We are headed to Texas. The southwest flow off the ULL may give the best chance tomorrow and best cape looks like in central Texas.

Making the best of a bad week to chase...

Man, I feel really sorry for you... You accidentally picked the worst May EVER to go chasing in the Plains-- and just everywhere in general-- This is going to be a Historically quite may... Although I wouldn't be surprised if we see a MASSIVE Outbreak sometime in Late May/ Early June, but that is just a guess, no science is put into that.

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Man, I feel really sorry for you... You accidentally picked the worst May EVER to go chasing in the Plains-- and just everywhere in general-- This is going to be a Historically quite may... Although I wouldn't be surprised if we see a MASSIVE Outbreak sometime in Late May/ Early June, but that is just a guess, no science is put into that.

2009 was worse (At least for the Plains)...as I'm sure several people here will concur with.

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Man, I feel really sorry for you... You accidentally picked the worst May EVER to go chasing in the Plains-- and just everywhere in general-- This is going to be a Historically quite may... Although I wouldn't be surprised if we see a MASSIVE Outbreak sometime in Late May/ Early June, but that is just a guess, no science is put into that.

Memories of 2009 are creeping back, dark times for the chasing community. Anyone have any guess if we are in for this for the long haul or just 2 weeks or so?

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2009 was worse (At least for the Plains)...as I'm sure several people here will concur with.

The jury is still out on that. There were a few decent/marginal events at the beginning of that month, and then absolutely *nothing* after May 13. The next noteworthy event on the Plains was Goshen Co., WY, on June 5.

I want to believe that we can recover in the last week or two of this May. Odds are strongly against the doldroms persisting through the 31st, though 2009 did show it to be possible. Cliche as it may be, it only takes one or two events to completely change everyone's perception of a given month (or even season). If the last week of May is similar to the last week of May 2008 (also quiet out here from 2 May to 22 May), it will be remembered as a fairly good chase month, even if the middle 75% is crap.

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2009 was worse (At least for the Plains)...as I'm sure several people here will concur with.

It happened that year too where there was a pretty sizable Tornado Outbreak in mid April (like this year)... And then almost nothing after that besides a BIG Derecho on May 8th, which also spawned 39 Tornadoes....

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If the last week of May is similar to the last week of May 2008 (also quiet out here from 2 May to 22 May), it will be remembered as a fairly good chase month, even if the middle 75% is crap.

Last year was quiet too until all hell broke loose from the 20th through the 25th...

Although for general severe across the country, mid May 2008 was quite active (I'm sure JoMo knows what I'm referring to), this one for the next week and a half (or more) looks to have very little period across the CONUS...

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It happened that year too where there was a pretty sizable Tornado Outbreak in mid April (like this year)...

Yeah, but that generally means nothing regarding May, last year had a very widespread outbreak in Mid April and then two more massive outbreaks in Late April and Late May...

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The jury is still out on that. There were a few decent/marginal events at the beginning of that month, and then absolutely *nothing* after May 13. The next noteworthy event on the Plains was Goshen Co., WY, on June 5.

I want to believe that we can recover in the last week or two of this May. Odds are strongly against the doldroms persisting through the 31st, though 2009 did show it to be possible. Cliche as it may be, it only takes one or two events to completely change everyone's perception of a given month (or even season). If the last week of May is similar to the last week of May 2008 (also quiet out here from 2 May to 22 May), it will be remembered as a fairly good chase month, even if the middle 75% is crap.

May 2008 was a pretty Active Month, at least by a weekly basis... Considering we had an Early May Outbreak which produced 62-Tornadoes, A Mid-May Outbreak which produced 147 Tornadoes, and a Late-May Outbreak which produced 234 Tornadoes, and then we had another Mid/ Early June Outbreak which produced 136 Tornadoes...

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