MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... June 15, 2023 June 15, 2023 June 15, 2023 June 15, 2023
May in June
https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230615/todays-severe-threat.png
Yep, it's one of THOSE days in Oklahoma...one of those days where you thought going to the bathroom once was good enough, but your nerves tell ya otherwise. One of those days where you get up in the morning dreading to see the newest outlooks from the Storm Prediction Center. Can't imagine that? Well, think of me looking in the mirror each morning.
Oh, it's mid-June alright, but don't worry about the calendar. Sure, we're supposed to be mired in air mass thunderstorms right now as the jet stream meanders far to the North and we're left with those aimless rainers that go up, don't move, then collapse, only to form again. In fact, that's what we've largely seen since our last big tornado outbreak on May 11. But Mother Nature doesn't care about the calendar, does she? In fact, I've made up this handy-dandy Tornado Season calendar for ya!
https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230615/tornado-calendar.png
So we have a classical springtime severe weather setup today with lots of moisture streaming into Oklahoma and the Southern Plains from south Texas and the Gulf of Mexico.
https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230615/current-dewpoints.png
https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230615/latest.tdew.png
Watch for those 70+ dewpoints to make it all the way to NW OK by this afternoon on strong SE winds in the lower levels. Combine that with a mid-level storm system (shortwave trough) moving through, a deepening low pressure system at the surface with a cold front and dryline to focus the storm initiation, AND an unusually-strong-jet-stream-for-this-time-of-year creating strong shear...and you have the recipe for supercell thunderstorms with all hazards possible.
Here's a look at the timing possible today from our friends at our local NWS offices.
https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230615/nws-norman-timing.png
https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230615/nws-tulsa-timing.png
https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230615/nws-amarillo-timing.png
https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230615/nws-amarillo-timing2.png As NWS Norman Warning Coordination Meteorologist Rick Smith says for today:
"Plan for tornado watches, numerous severe thunderstorm warnings and some tornado warnings. The storms will not lose their punch after dark, with the threat continuing until after midnight east of I-35."
Exactly! PLAN for these things, but hope for a big old bust today. Trust me, there's nobody more hoping to be wrong about this mess today than the folks forecasting it.
So know your safety plan for this afternoon into evening, depending on your location. You KNOW some Junebugs got into your storm shelter, so clean those out. Have those batteries charged on your mobile devices in case power goes out, and in those NOAA Wx Radios, because you need at least two ways to get warnings.
Don't underestimate the severe wind threat! Seeing that word "Derecho" thrown around should give you pause. It gives me that Taco Bell Colon Blow (SCIENCE!), but widespread 70-80+ mph winds will be possible with the storms, and those can be just as damaging as those weaker tornadoes.
I might be putting a bit more OOMPH in today's seriousness, because I'm a bit worried folks are again concentrating on that calendar instead of the weather. So stay tuned to your favorite local media weather team and the NWS office that covers your area, because today's action can and probably will evolve from this point forward.
And then get ready to do it all over again Saturday, May 17...I mean JUNE 17.
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Gary McManus State Climatologist Oklahoma Mesonet Oklahoma Climatological Survey gmcmanus@mesonet.org
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