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Severe Weather and Flash Flooding Threat in the Central U.S. This Weekend

Heavy rain and severe weather is forecast across the central and southern Plains this weekend. Large hail and strong winds will be the primary threats. A Slight Risk (level 2 of 5) for severe thunderstorms has been issued. Consecutive days of heavy rainfall may lead to flash flooding across Missouri and Oklahoma on Sunday. A Moderate Risk (Level 3 of 4) for excessive rainfall has been issued. Read More >

Overview

An upper level storm system traversed the Rocky Mountains and adjacent plains on Sunday and interacted with a dryline that was situated over eastern New Mexico. This led to the development of severe thunderstorms along and ahead of the boundary. High levels of wind shear allowed the activity to organize into supercell thunderstorms which produced large to very large hail and damaging wind as they tracked northeast across the Panhandles. The most intense storm produced baseball size hail and widespread damage in Hereford, Bushland and Bishop Hills. This storm destroyed a hangar at the Hereford Airport, broke out windows of homes and vehicles in the area and significantly damaged roofs. The highest wind gust of 86 mph was reported from the West Texas Mesonet 15 miles north-northwest of Amarillo. The inflow into another powerful supercell caused wind gusts in excess of 58 mph at the West Texas Mesonet 3 miles southeast of Dumas for an incredible 15 minutes and produced a peak gust of 72 mph. As the night progressed, storms decreased in coverage, but isolated supercells produced golf ball sized hail and ~60 mph winds as late as midnight. One other noteworthy report was a weak landspout in Fritch which produced minor damage. Landspouts are typically weak and short lived tornadoes that develop from the ground up rather then extending from a rotating cloud base down to the ground. For more information on how to prepare for severe weather season, please check out these resources from the NWS.

 

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