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More Destructive Storms Eye Central U.S. Today
UPDATED 7:30 AM CDT, May 21, 2013
UPDATED By WeatherBug Meteorologists, Andrew Rosenthal and Chad Merrill | For the fourth straight day in a row, vicious storms producing destructive tornadoes, very large hail and damaging winds are on the weather menu from the southern Plains to the Great Lakes. This is part of the same storm system that produced a deadly tornado in Moore, Okla., Monday and widespread severe storm reports since Saturday.
Thunderstorms rolling across central Oklahoma and Arkansas this morning are weakening after producing wind gusts up to 77 mph in Caddo, Okla., that knocked down trees and power lines.
Once again later today, the severe threat is sufficiently high that the Storm Prediction Center has an elevated Moderate Risk for destructive storms in northeastern Texas, northern Louisiana, far southeastern Oklahoma and southwestern Arkansas. This heightened threat area includes the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Waco and Texarkana, Texas, and Shreveport, La. Here, large and powerful tornadoes are likely, along with destructive winds of 70 to 80 mph and hail to the size of baseballs and softballs.
Beyond that, a large section of the Central U.S. is at risk for strong to severe thunderstorms, including Austin, Texas, Little Rock, Ark., St. Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Toledo, Ohio, and Detroit.
The storms will drop 2 to 3 inches of rain in a short time period, leading to rapid rises on streams and creeks and creating urban flash flooding. Flash Flood and Flood Watches are in effect across eastern Oklahoma and northern Arkansas.
Farther north, 2 to 3 inches of rain have already fallen in the Minnesota Arrowhead. Additional heavy showers today will result in flash flooding. . Flash Flood Watches are in effect for northern Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin and northeastern North Dakota. If you come across a flooded roadway, do not attempt to cross it, as it is likely deeper than it appears. It`s best to "Turn Around, Don`t Drown."
The same cold front that sparked the violent weather Saturday, Sunday and Monday is the root cause for today`s expected storm outbreak. The front is lined up from eastern Minnesota to western Oklahoma. As it slowly moves east, warm, humid 80-degree air will clash with cooler, drier weather settling in behind the front to product the storms. Enough spin in the atmosphere will unleash more tornadoes.
Fifty-five possible tornadoes have been reported since Saturday, including a massive tornado that spun across Moore, Okla., Monday afternoon killing 91 and injuring hundreds. It has been preliminarily rated at EF-4. The Associated Press reports this morning that President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in Oklahoma, ordering federal aid to help with local recovery efforts.
Make sure that you download the WeatherBug app on your smart phone. The mobile app now includes Spark Lightning Alerts, a GPS-based lightning detection feature providing you the location of the closest lightning strike, so you can Know Before the storm hits. Click here for the link to download.
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