Severe storms fire up in the Plains

AccuWeather

Storm chaser Aaron Jayjack reported live from Oklahoma as severe storm cells emerged across the central U.S. on the evening of April 1.

Transcript

00:00Our first severe cell of the day is on the move, and here is the current look.

00:05So, Aaron, I know you're driving right now, or at least you're in a moving vehicle.

00:10What are you seeing out there?

00:12Yeah, Jeff, so you mentioned that severe-worn storm, the first one of the day, and that's

00:18the top of it.

00:19You're looking at it right now.

00:20I just went through Kingfisher, Oklahoma.

00:22I'm moving north.

00:24This storm is severe-worn.

00:25Like you mentioned, likely producing hail, severe winds, 60 miles per hour, plus gusts.

00:31And a little bit further down the line, I see, the dry line, I see some additional development.

00:35So it looks like we do have, obviously, convective initiation has begun here in Oklahoma.

00:41These storms will pose a risk for all hazards, that hail you mentioned, strong damaging winds,

00:46and possibly tornadoes.

00:47We have a strong shear in place here at the surface, the moisture has elevated, the sun

00:52has continued to bake the environment here, and things do look conducive for that severe

00:56weather tonight here in Oklahoma, even up into Kansas, and further to the south, down

01:02in Texas.

01:03So I'm probably about 20 minutes away from being right underneath this storm, just to

01:07the north.

01:08We're going through a little town here now.

01:09I'm not sure what the town is here, but it is north of Kingfisher, Oklahoma, and we'll

01:13be under that storm shortly.

01:15Back to you guys.

01:17Chaser Aaron J. Jack, we appreciate that report there.

01:19With one lone cell so far, but we knew that there would just be a couple of isolated cells

01:25that would really get going quickly, and this is going to crack out some hail and wind,

01:28lots of lightning as well.

01:29Yeah, let's take you now to Wichita, Kansas, where we're going to talk more about what's

01:33to come with this severe threat, because here in Wichita, we are not seeing the severe type

01:39of weather that we're seeing in the area of Oklahoma that we were just highlighting.

01:44That's right.

01:45That's going to be going eventually here as well, and beginning to see some lightning

01:49up into parts of northern and west-central Kansas as well, amid some cells that are pretty

01:54innocuous looking overall, but there is some pretty good vertical movement within these

01:58vertical motion, and even a couple of these gusty, wind-swept downpours are producing

02:04a little bit of lightning as well, north and western parts of Kansas for now.

02:07But currently, our lone severe cell is right over Enid, Oklahoma, and it's bringing some

02:12nasty wind and hail, and you can see that the storm is racing to the east-northeast

02:17right over Enid.

02:18So Garfield County, severe thunderstorm warning until 6.30 central time, officially is leaving

02:23eastern major county.

02:24The risk really is Enid and points northeast.

02:26So look out in southeastern Grant County, it's coming your way, Billings in northwestern

02:30Noble County, Garber, you're going to be clipped by this storm, but the greater risk here is

02:34going to be, again, just racing northeast and moving into an area of eventually the

02:40southeastern section of Grant County is going to be up next, perhaps clipping a little bit

02:43of Noble County with this severe thunderstorm warning for north-central Oklahoma.

02:47Our first cell of the day, that is a pretty gusty one with some hail potential as well.

02:53It's a small-scale storm, but look at the lightning, just a sign of the health of the

02:56storm and the way that the updrafts are really getting going.

02:58Switching over to the visible satellite loop, you can see that these bubbly clouds here

03:02are the ones that are producing a little bit more in the way of convection.

03:06We're seeing a similar environment here, kind of on the edge of the dry line into western

03:09Kansas.

03:10The dry line is more pronounced farther east, where it's almost like a front separating

03:13some really dry air from some tropical air off to the east.

03:18So back to radar, just a quick look there, again, not much popping yet elsewhere, but

03:22we're getting ready for more trouble into Oklahoma and into Kansas and beyond.

03:27So we're facing what will become a pretty big threat here for, again, a risk through

03:32the overnight hours and into the day tomorrow, and Anna's going to be talking more about

03:36the extended forecast, but some more details on the current setup here this evening and

03:40tonight.

03:41Here's your risk area, looking at north Texas through Oklahoma, the eastern half, borderline

03:47two-thirds of Kansas, southeastern parts of Nebraska, and much of western Missouri.

03:52So big cities like Tulsa, Wichita, Oklahoma City, and areas around the Tulsa area, I mentioned

03:59Oklahoma City, Kansas City, and Wichita, all facing a significant risk of damaging wind

04:04and hail.

04:05So there will be big gaps on the radar between these first few isolated cells, and you can

04:09see that really, really dark purple, almost kind of like a grayish-blue color, that's

04:14where the winds are going to be really strong, just a fierce wind gusting over 70 miles per

04:19hour a mile up into the sky, so it's a mile up, but that's going to be fueling some of

04:23these overnight thunderstorms in the southern plains.

04:25So here we go, and again, the first few storms are on the map now into parts of Kansas and

04:30Oklahoma, one bona fide severe cell so far, but the risk is there for Tulsa to face isolated,

04:37intense, gusty thunderstorms with hail and wind through the overnight hours, and up into

04:41the Kansas City metro here, kind of a similar setup, initially it's pretty spotty, but as

04:45we get deep into the night, you can see the radar kind of fills in, storms really pop

04:49over the area near Manhattan, Kansas, St. Joseph, Missouri, and wind and hail will be

04:53our main issues there too.

04:55So again, these storms pooling northeast pretty rapidly, widespread to the north, spotty but

05:00still intense to the south, and this is a setup here for some more trouble tomorrow

05:04when things really, really get going as this warm front pushes north after a chilly, wet

05:09night in Chicago, tomorrow begins to look very different up there.

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