MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... February 1, 2013 February 1, 2013 February 1, 2013 February 1, 2013
Yes Virginia, there was a tornado in Oklahoma (first since October)
Climatologists are always the last to know these things. We're not allowed to look at tornadoes. Our personalities and general outlooks on life don't allow for that type of excitement. We will, however, be glad to look for trends in the last 50 years. I don't know who this Virginia is, or why I'm answering her question, but I'll proceed anyway.
The NWS folks in Tulsa completed the damage survey for the tornado that struck so close to the Oklahoma-Arkansas border on January 29 and found that it did indeed first touch down on the Oklahoma side of the line. Here is their Public Information Statement with the, errrrr, info.
RATING: EF-2 ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 110-120 MPH PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 9 MILES PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 700 YARDS FATALITIES: 0 INJURIES: 0
START DATE: JANUARY 29 2013 START TIME: 255 PM CST START LOCATION: 3.4 NE SHORT / SEQUOYAH COUNTY / OK START LAT/LON: 35.605 / -94.498
END DATE: JANUARY 29 2013 END TIME: 304 PM CST END LOCATION: 3.9 N NATURAL DAM / CRAWFORD COUNTY / AR END LAT/LON: 35.704 / -94.394
SURVEY SUMMARY; THIS TORNADO DEVELOPED IN EXTREME NORTHEASTERN SEQUOYAH COUNTY OKLAHOMA AND MOVED RAPIDLY NORTHEAST TO THE NORTH OF NATURAL DAM ARKANSAS IN CRAWFORD COUNTY. IT MOVED THROUGH RURAL AREAS OF BOTH COUNTIES SNAPPING AND UPROOTING MANY HARDWOOD AND SOFTWOOD TREES IN THE PATH. THE MOST PRONOUNCED DAMAGE TO TREES OCCURRED ON RAINWATER ROAD NORTHWEST OF UNIONTOWN IN CRAWFORD COUNTY WHERE THE TORNADO TORE A PATH THROUGH THE WOODS OF MORE THAN ONE THIRD OF A MILE WIDE. POWER POLES WERE SNAPPED AND A HOUSE HAD MINOR DAMAGE WITHIN THE 9 MILE LONG PATH.
NOW THAT'S THE (whoops, why am I screaming?) ... now that's the first tornado to touchdown in Oklahoma since an EF1 twister touched down 3 miles SW of Healdton on October 13, 2012. That twister injured two people, but luckily no fatalities. The January 29 tornado of this year is only the 17th confirmed twister to touch down in the state during the year's first month.
I'm not sure if it will be rated EF2 for the time it was in Oklahoma, but it's not going to surpass the 880 yards-wide F4 monster that struck Gans back on January 22, 1957. That tornado killed 10 and injured 20.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speaking of rain (sorta ... tough to get tornadoes without storms), our next GOOD chance for GOOD rain appears to be about a week from now. The NWS' HPC has basically painted the entire country some form of green in anticipation on their 7-day forecast totals map. One of the few areas in the country not in the green? The Oklahoma Panhandle, of course.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20130201/7day-rain.gif
Hopefully this will start to darken and heavier totals will start to show up farther to the west. Our Canuck friends to the north give much of the state at least a 20-30% chance to see accumulations of 0.4 inches of rain through next weekend. A smaller chance for accumulations of an inch. Along with their back bacon and tuque, those hosers are also pretty good at predicting weather across the North American Continent (I will admit from the start it's a sad situation that all I know about Canada I learned watching Dave and Doug McKenzie)
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20130201/NAEFS-probs-4tenths.gif http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20130201/NAEFS-probs-1inch.gif
Our own CPC sees that rain as well in their second week mm/day forecast for Feb. 8-14 (the lower panel).
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20130201/CPC-week2.gif
Which also shows up on their 8-14 day probability map for February 8-14 (eerie how that worked out!).
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20130201/814prcp.new.gif
So there you go. Hopefully we'll have reinforcements arriving next weekend. That's the key. We don't want another 18-21 days between rainfall events.
Gary McManus Associate State Climatologist Oklahoma Climatological Survey (405) 325-2253 gmcmanus@mesonet.org
==================================================
The OCS/Mesonet Ticker
https://ticker.mesonet.org/
To subscribe or unsubscribe from the Ticker
or for questions about the Ticker or its content
Phone or Email the Ticker Manager at OCS
Phone: 405-325-2253 Email: ticker@mesonet.org
---------------------------------------------------
-C- Copyright 2024 Oklahoma Climatological Survey
===================================================
|