4Warn Storm Team @ KFOR-TV

Summer is BACK!

4 Warn Storm Team — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:32:43 +0000

Hopefully you like saunas…because it feels like one outside! Unseasonably high dew-points combined with seasonal July temperatures are resulting in dangerously high heat indices.

Make sure to practice heat safety precautions and take pets indoors. A high heat index means it’s more difficult for your sweat to evaporate and therefore you can overheat much faster. Oklahoma is under a heat advisory until Thursday. Additionally, long range models suggest we’ll stay dry through the entire month of July.

If you’re out this evening, make sure to look up. The international space station will be passing overhead twice!

Have a great week and make sure to keep cool!

Emily Sutton, 4Warn Storm Team Meteorologist

Wednesday’s Storm Reports

4 Warn Storm Team — Thu, 20 May 2010 19:52:18 +0000

Wednesday certainly turned out to be another busy severe weather day throughout the state. We saw somewhere between 15 and 20 preliminary tornado reports, mainly from Kingfisher towards Stillwater, near Leedey, near Prague and south of Wynnewood. A few homes and outbuildings were damaged near Stillwater, Prague and in the community of Joy (north of Davis). Fortunately, as of Thursday morning, there were no reports of injuries or deaths from this latest round of wicked weather. Over the next few days, the National Weather Service will visit locations that saw tornadoes to assign each one a rating. Often times, the same tornado is reported multiple times. The NWS will then revise an updated tornado count at a later time.

Once again, the state saw many large hail reports on Wednesday. Baseball size hail fell near Goldsby and Noble, and golfball size hail was common in many of the severe thunderstorms. Fortunately, the active weather pattern that we have seen over the past several days is transitioning to a more summer-like pattern this weekend. That means dry and warmer weather on the way!

-Troy Christensen, 4Warn Storm Team Meteorologist

Severe Weather Outbreak Wednesday

4 Warn Storm Team — Tue, 18 May 2010 18:09:30 +0000

2010 Hail Storm

4 Warn Storm Team — Mon, 17 May 2010 03:14:56 +0000

Sunday afternoon’s dangerous hail storm started around 1:30 pm in Blaine, Kingfisher, and Major counties and moved southeast around 30 mph. The supercell had rotation and eventually moved through the metro, injuring several people, knocking out power, flooding streets, and racking up possibly millions of dollars of damage. Check out some incredible pictures below. More can be found at our KFOR YourSpace pictures at www.4Warn.com.

Here’s a picture from NW Oklahoma City of a 4 to 5 foot snow drift. Incredible!

Here’s a picture of 2.75″ hail. Amateur radio reported up to 4.25″ hail in Oklahoma City.

This picture was taken at the Highway 3 and Highway 4 intersection. This storm had rotation but did not produce a tornado. The strong, rotating updraft suspended hail for a longer period of time, resulting in massive hailstones. If you have any pictures or videos you’d like to submit, please send them to www.4Warn.com and we’ll try to get them on air tomorrow.

Emily Sutton, 4Warn Storm Team Meteorologist

Severe Weather Update

4 Warn Storm Team — Mon, 10 May 2010 17:30:02 +0000

The severe risk has been elevated to “High” for portions of Oklahoma.

Strong, long-lived tornadoes are possible this afternoon and evening. Storms could fire as early as 2PM along the dry line. Stay tuned to NewsChannel 4 HD, we’ll keep you 4Warned.

Emily Sutton, 4Warn Storm Team Meteorologist

Severe Weather Outbreak Possible

4 Warn Storm Team — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:30:53 +0000

After an incredibly slow start to storm season in plains, Monday may overturn the tornado drought in Oklahoma. A classic severe weather set up will shape up on Monday.

All the right weather “ingredients” will be available Monday to form severe storms and even strong, long-track tornadoes. A warm front will lift northeastward tonight making for much warmer highs on Monday in the low to mid 80s. Highs could easily reach the 90s west of the dry line. In the meanwhile, a low-level jet will transport moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. As the warm front lifts, showers and thunderstorm will form tonight through early Monday morning. A few storms could be heavy, bringing 50 + mph wind gusts and up to nickel-sized hail. The storms will quickly push east and skies will begin as a dry line sets up in western Oklahoma. The few hours of sunshine will make the atmosphere unstable and by the afternoon, storms will begin to develop along the dry line as it moves into western and central Oklahoma.

As a result, there is a slight to moderate risk for severe storms across most of Oklahoma. The moderate risk (orange) indicates a higher probability/greater number of severe storms. Monday’s severe risk includes the possibility for damaging wind, hail, and a few tornadoes. One of the dangers of Monday’s storms is that they will move quickly (around 40-50 mph). For this reason, it’s a good idea to prepare now. Make sure your NOAA weather radio is working properly and stay tuned to NewsChannel 4 throughout the day on Monday. Also, make sure to sign up for 4Warn phone and text alerts. They are free and will alert you when there is a Tornado Warning in your area. Sign up at www.4Warn.com or call 405-494-4225. Please send in storm reports, pictures, and video at www.4Warn.com!

The storms will move out of Oklahoma Monday night. We’ll have a brief break Tuesday before the cold front shown in the first graphic stalls out.

There will be another chance for severe storms on Wednesday, followed by heavy rain on Thursday. Flooding could be an issue by the end of the week. Stay tuned, we’ll keep you 4Warned!

Emily Sutton, 4Warn Storm Team Meteorologist

Severe Weather Next Week

4 Warn Storm Team — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:37:28 +0000

We are now entering what is climatologically the most active time for severe weather in Oklahoma. However, the jet stream this week is zonal, resulting in sunny, calm weather. Next week is a different story. We are tracking several systems scheduled to move across our region next week.

The graphic above represents the first system on Monday. Another system lines up right behind it followed by another late next week. Stay tuned to NewsChannel 4 HD, we’ll keep you 4Warned.

Emily Sutton, 4Warn Storm Team Meteorologist

It’s Windy In Oklahoma! (surprise, surprise)

4 Warn Storm Team — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:33:33 +0000

The 4 Warn Storm Team always seems to get the question, “When will the winds finally die down?” This time of the year our state continues to be in the transition zone between hot and cold airmasses. The resulting temperature differences create the pressure differences that we feel as wind. This time of the year, the typical storm track is north of Oklahoma. That is why we normally see a prevailing south wind from Spring until Fall. As low pressure areas develop and strengthen on the lee side of the Rocky Mountains, the pressure drops and wind strengthens across our state. Since Western Oklahoma is closer to the low pressure, winds tend to be higher.

Another reason Western Oklahoma generally sees the highest wind speeds is favorable topography. Vegetation and buildings tend to add some resistance to the winds at the surface. Less vegetation compared to central and eastern Oklahoma is one reason for the higher speeds. Folks running in the OKC marathon last weekend found this out as they made their way on the 26.2 mile course. Northwesterly winds were a bit breezy Sunday morning across the city, but were much higher near Lake Hefner. The reason for this is that there was very little friction between the winds and the lake surface.

As runners ran north from downtown, they hit the winds almost head on. On the way back to the finish line, winds helped push the runners towards their goal. Anyone who lives at the edge of a lake or a flat field will agree that the winds are usually much higher where there is less friction.

As for when the winds will finally calm down, I don’t see any major speed changes until next week. This is Oklahoma after all!

-Meteorologist Troy Christensen

I Can See Clearly Now, The Rain Is Gone

4 Warn Storm Team — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 09:26:07 +0000

After 3 days of almost steady rain, drier air is finally moving into Oklahoma. We really needed it. Before this system, our monthly and yearly rain totals were below normal. Now they are well above normal as shown in the almanac below for Sunday, April 18, 2010.

Here are some of the other rain totals (approximations) from across that state since midnight. Notice the heaviest rain in southeastern Oklahoma as the system slowly treks eastward, eventually exiting Oklahoma.

The 3-day rain totals (approximations) listed below show how much we received since the rain started on Friday (Thursday for Southwest OK). Some of the totals are quite impressive.

One of the highest totals was found at South Bend, TX with a 3-day total of 6.69″! It’s no wonder there have been flooding issues for portions of Texas. Thankfully, there have been no reports of major flooding in Southern Oklahoma. We’ll dry out and warm up for Monday through Wednesday and then all eyes are on our next big storm system that may bring severe weather for Thursday/Friday. Stay tuned!

Emily Sutton, 4Warn Storm Team Meteorologist

Today’s Severe Weather Risk

4 Warn Storm Team — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:35:34 +0000

It’s been a warm and windy day across the state of Oklahoma. There is a Red Flag Warning for Western Oklahoma and the entire state is under a wind advisory. There is a slight risk for severe weather today, highlighted in the graphic below.

The air is currently unstable, however, remains “capped.” This is kind of like Mother Nature putting a lid on storms. It will take cold air moving in from the Northwest this evening to un-cap or take of the lid and let the storms develop. If a storm develops, it will most likely turn severe quickly. We will likely not see any storm initiation until at least 6pm. Stay tuned as we keep you 4Warned.

Emily Sutton, 4Warn Storm Team Meteorologist