00:00Brace yourself for days of severe weather ahead.
00:04However, Friday is the most dangerous day,
00:08as thunderstorms will bring not only damaging winds hail,
00:11but tornadoes as well.
00:13The question is why?
00:15Why is Friday the day?
00:17Well, let's compare the energy that's producing the severe weather
00:21over the next couple of days.
00:23The area highlighted across Colorado and Kansas,
00:26that's today's severe weather maker.
00:29Contrast that with the energy off the West Coast.
00:32That's what's going to produce the severe weather late Thursday and Friday.
00:36That piece of energy off the California coast is bigger,
00:39and it has a lot more moisture with it, denoted by the white shading.
00:44Another way to look at it is this.
00:46When you talk about energy in the atmosphere,
00:49which is what you need for severe weather,
00:51it's one of the main ingredients,
00:52what are we really talking about?
00:53Wind.
00:54One of my favorite tools to look at is the winds at around 5,000 feet,
00:58what we call the low-level jet.
00:59I'm going to play this.
01:01Watch how that wind increases.
01:03Look at the dark shading across Kansas and Oklahoma.
01:08That means not only do we have strong winds
01:11in the lower and middle part of the atmosphere,
01:14but it's increasing,
01:15which is going to add a little more extra energy into the equation.
01:19And when you look at temperatures on Friday,
01:22look how warm it is.
01:23This is April and May warm from Texas in Missouri,
01:27and note the contrast to the northwest.
01:29That means you have a strong cold front.
01:32And that is why we're looking at a bigger severe weather day on Friday.
01:37Springfield, Fayetteville, Macalester, Oklahoma to Dallas.
01:41Damaging winds, hail, and unfortunately, tornadoes.
01:44Damaging winds, hail, and we'll see you next time.
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