Sunday, April 15, Storm Timeline Blog
6:08pm - Last few cells moving over Lamar and Hopkins County. Clearing over the eastern edge next two hours, wonderful evening in progress for metroplex. Lows tonight in the low 50's, the coldest it has been in the last 22 mornings.
Thank you for joining us on the storm blog today. The first post was by Larry at 3:50am! We have some dry and very nice weather ahead for the next couple of days. I'll have the full weather outlook on the Storm Blog shortly.
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6:02pm- Tornado outbreak this evening possible across MN. Tornado Warning right now just west of Minneapolis, line moving into Twin Cities:
5:30pm- CBS 11 News at 5:30 in progress. Full forecast coming up. Just wait to you see morning temperatures for tomorrow!
5:10pm - Perhaps small hail with this one. Cell over Emory moving toward S.Springs
4:37pm- Maybe some small hail with this storm moving into Van Zandt County
4:05pm - Small but intense cell over SE corner of Fannin County.
3:39pm - Starting to clear over the metro. Finally.
3:20pm - Still some storms across eastern areas. Rockwall, Hunt and Fannin Counties. Moving NNE at 60mph.
2:53pm- Latest track on cell going across NW Hunt Co. . History of pea-sized hail.
2:45pm-Trio of cells over Collin County. Brief hvy rain with two to east, small hail and lightning with one in red.
2:33pm- Am tracking this cell with our own radar, hail core now over Lavon at Hwy 78 and FM6
2:28pm Some hail and lightning with this cell over Lake Ray Hubbard, moving NE at 60mph:
1:57pm-They just issued a Special Statement on this cell (a level just below Storm Warning). Pea-sized hail and gusts up to 40mph
1:56pm-Just a hint of upper level rotation suggests small hail possibe. This is over Ferris headed to Seagoville.
1:37pm- This is not a squall line but the clearing line of the clouds moving east. They are breaking apart as they move east so the clearing will happend sooner that the 4pm at Fort Worth:
1:26pm-A couple areas of heavy rain and some lightning (at least around Paris):
12:52pm- When this cold front gets through (winds turn to the west) Palestine and Tyler the threat of severe weather today is over.
12:49pm- Latest track on cell moving into Grayson Co.
12:30pm- These cells are moving so fast by the time I get the image onto the site they are half-a-county-span down the road. This one is now over eastern edge of Hunt County into Hopkins County:
12:15pm - We just did our last cut in. This is going to be another day of Tornadoes but not around here. The risk is actually shifted far north today in MN, WI and northern IA. The area in red and inside the smaller circle covered by the hatched marks is where significant (EF2 or higher) tornadoes are expected. There is a slight risk (5% chance of tornado occurring within 25 miles of any point in brown) for east Texas and Arkansas. Join us at 5:30pm for a full weather report. If tornadoes threaten our eastern edge over the next couple of hours we will of course break into programming.
11:39am- Storm moving north at an amazing 75mph across NW Grayson. 40mph winds and half-inch hail:
11:30am- Jeff Ray here, Larry has called it a morning and go back to his day off. I'll be monitoring the weather rest of day. Here's the latest radar image. Story remains the same, nothing severe. Brief heavy rain just north of Denton and east of Sanger. Grayson County has a couple of cells moving through. Lightning in with this as well.
11am - We are very lucky that the timing of this event worked in our favor here in North Texas. The morning hours are the least likely time to get severe weather. You couldn't have asked for a better time for a big storm system to blow thru. A lot of the upper level energy was also to our north and heading north so that makes a big difference. Severe weather threat will go up later this afternoon in far East Texas and then up the Mississippi valley up to Minnesota and Wisconsin. Could see more supercell thunderstorms with tornadoes in Minnesota and Wisconsin and Iowa today.
1049am - Radar snapshot shows an area of storms from Tarrant Co into Denton Co. This is behind the cold front that has pushed into parts of Kaufman and Hunt Co. But what this line of storms is, is a front at about 5,000 feet above the ground.
1027am - Not as much lightning with storms now compared to an hour ago. Here is lightning counter.
1022am - Radar snapshot from around 1020am. Pockets of showers and thunderstorms continue. Nothing severe. Severe threat is over for us here in Dallas/Fort Worth. Still a threat of severe weather for areas east of where rain is falling now.
1007am - UPDATE - Tornado Reports from yesterday and last night now up to 122. That doesn't mean there were this many tornadoes, because there can be two or more reports of the same tornado. It'll take days to see how many tornadoes there were. But here is a map showing all the tornado reports.
955am - Spotty showers and thunderstorm continue across Metroplex. Still nothing severe. No word on when Tornado Watch will be issued by SPC.
927am - The Storm Prediction Center just sent out a Mesoscale Update on the possibility of a TORNADO WATCH for NE Texas into Arkansas and Oklahoma. Here is a map showing the outline of the area of where the watch might be placed. Tough to see, but does not include Dallas or Tarrant Counties. It would be for areas around Greenville, Paris, Athens, Tyler and points NE of there. Click on the map to make it bigger. These mesoscale updates are designed to give us a heads up as to when Watches may be issued.
920am - Just pockets of showers and thunderstorms around DFW Metroplex. Nothing severe. Brief heavy rain and lightning. Making for a noisy morning. MORE RADAR LOOKS HERE
900am - CBS 11 Skytracker Tom Soulsby reports .24 of an inch of rain in Keller, says "A real refreshing rain when you don't have to duck and run."
855am - Here is a look at the radar at 855am. Purple line drawn is outflow. Storms behind line are in more stable air where surface temps have cooled into 60s and 50s. This limits severe potential. Ahead of outflow is where severe threat is higher. Note the storms in northern Collin and Grayson Co. Those are the strongest because they are ahead of outflow and feeding on warmer air.
845am - Stronger storms moving thru northern Collin Co into Grayson Co. Still no warnings or watches. Lots of lightning around metroplex this morning and some pockets of heavy rain. Here's radar snapshot from shortly after 83am.
8:35am - Updated radar looks during commercial breaks a few times during CBS SUNDAY MORNING show. One of the best news programs around, if I do say so. ~Larry
830am - Here's a link to a preliminary map of where tornadoes struck on Saturday. TORNADO TRACKS
821am - Special Weather Statement for Denton and Collin Co. Strong storm moving from The Colony into Frisco and Plano could produce pea size hail and winds to 40 mph.
8:08am - Storms intensifying over Denton and Tarrant Co. Not severe but seeing more lightning. Here's our lightning counter.
748am - Short Term Update from NWS.
A BROKEN LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ORIENTED ALONG A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE FROM A SHERMAN...FORT WORTH...TO GOLDTHWAITE LINE AND REACH A LINE FROM BONHAM...TO DALLAS...TO LAMPASAS BY 930 AM.
BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL...OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING AND WIND GUSTS TO 35 MPH WILL ACCOMPANY THIS ACTIVITY AS IT MOVES NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
A FEW SHOWERS ARE ALSO EXPECTED WELL AHEAD OF AND BEHIND THE MAIN LINE OF STORMS.
736am - Radar snapshot at 730am. Some storms moving thru Tarrant and Denton Counties and also thru Grayson, Johnson and Hood Co. Not sever, but some brief heavy rain and some lightning.
710am - Scattered showers and thunderstorms continue across metroplex. Nothing severe at all. Just some rain and occasional claps of thunder. Here is a sequence of what the radar may look like as we go thru the day. This is our CBS 11 High Resolution RPM model.
655am - WEATHER DISCUSSION - Outflow from storms has overtaken the metro area. This is great news for us. An outflow is a cooler rush of air that spreads out ahead of storms. This acts to stabilize the atmosphere and make severe weather less likely. Timing of front and storms is also a huge positive for us. The morning hours are the time when the atmosphere is at its most stable. So this is really just going to be a rain event with occasional thunderstorms. The outflow boundary at this time is from a Bonham to Dallas to Cleburne line. The outflow will continue to move east but as we head into late morning and early afternoon, east of that boundary is where stronger storms will likely redevelop.
630am - Radar snapshot shows a stronger storm in northern Wise Co. I circled it in purple. Some lightning and heavy rain but nothing severe. Just some rain around metroplex.
CLOUD TOPS Show this storm with clouds reaching to 45,000 feet.
620am -NOAA National Weather Service offices issued 124 Tornado Warnings yesterday and during the overnight hours. LINK
610am - RADAR IMAGES HERE You can track the storms here on our radars.
600am - Rain spreading thru the metroplex, but no severe weather. There are a few thunderstorms into parts of Parker and Wise County. Not severe but seeing some lightning. It will be a wet morning with occasional thunderstorms. Still some gusty winds around 30 mph this morning.
540am - Only severe weather in the country at this time is around the Tulsa, OK area and into SE Kansas. Thankfully, no tornado warnings at this time, just a few severe thunderstorm warnings.
535am - Here's more on the deaths in Oklahoma from last nights tornadoes. Terrible news. OKLAHOMA TORNADOES
530am - Radar snapshot as of 530am. Rain spreading into Tarrant and Denton Co. No severe weather, but some storms to west of DFW metro area.
5:00am - Severe storms will be possible today mainly from Dallas eastward by late morning into the afternoon. Here is an outline of the Slight Risk for severe weather today.
445am - Radar snapshot. Area of rain moving into Wise Co, TX. More storms west but not severe.
430am - 121 Tornado Reports
There were 121 Tornado Reports across the Central Plains yesterday and early this morning! That doesn't mean there were this many tornadoes, because there can be two or more reports of the same tornado. It'll take days to see how many tornadoes there were. But here is a map showing all the tornado reports.
417am - The AP is reporting 5 confirmed dead in Woodward, OK.
"Oklahoma authorities said five people died early Sunday after a tornado hit in and around the northwest Oklahoma town of Woodward. Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Keli Cain said the state medical examiner's office confirmed the fatalities in the Woodward area. She didn't know the gender or age of the victims or details of their deaths.
The National Weather Service said the tornado hit at 12:18 a.m. Sunday."
4:15am - Severe potential looks very low for us here in Dallas/Fort Worth as outflow from storms is really undercutting them. Outflow is cooler air that rushes ahead of the storms. This acts to cool the air at the ground and stabilize the atmosphere. Timing of the day is a big positive for us. Morning hours are most stable time for the atmosphere.
350am - Line of storms to the west of Dallas/Fort Worth is moving eastward. At this time line is not severe. But lots of lightning and some small hail possible with these storms. The nearest portion of the line is 81 miles from DFW airport. The line is moving at 35 mph. Here's a radar snapshot at 345am.
