With no storms to chase tonight - I spent most of this evening editing this image in Photoshop. It was shot Monday night as the severe storms raked the city and the sirens were sounding.
When I first uploaded it into my Mac - I saw it had potential - but it had major problems. It was filled with electromagnetic noise (due to the lightning) underexposed in parts of the image and because the clouds were in motion during the 15 second exposure parts of it were blurred.
I knew it would take some serious work in CS-4 but If I could bring out of the mess the epic scene I beheld with my more sensitive eyes - it would be worth it.
- I spent over three hours "fixing" bringing out of the digital -muck this final view of that amazing storm.
I call it "The Maelstrom" and gives you a good idea what was going on in the skies over Amarillo that caused us to all lose so much sleep.
One thing I love about storm is how their color and dimensionality interact. In this photo, the small cloud towers growing in the foreground (left bottom) cast a giant shadow on the super-cell thunderstorm in the background.
It's rare that you can catch a lightning storm and the moon in the same shot. I shot this from Farmers Lane - just before all hell broke loose. I'll post more tomorrow.
Hello! I'm proud to announce that my first e-book written for 5 to 10 year olds is now on sale for the Amazon Kindle and (or) for download as a Adobe Acrobat file for your PC or Mac!
Mekay's 1st life is the story of a little girl, he grandfather, a farm cat named Mekay and their encounter with coyotes and tornadoes.
.THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS OVER PORTIONS OF THE LOWER OH VALLEY ACROSS THE TN VALLEY TO THE SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST...
...THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS FROM SERN WY AND ADJACENT AREAS OF SD AND NEB SOUTH ACROSS ERN CO AND THE SRN HIGH PLAINS...
...SYNOPSIS... MID LEVEL FLOW WILL REMAIN QUITE AMPLIFIED ACROSS THE CONUS INTO THE WEEKEND AS ONE WELL-DEFINED DISTURBANCE MOVES ACROSS THE MIDWEST THROUGH TODAY AND ANOTHER SUBSTANTIAL TROUGH DEEPENS OVER THE WEST AND ROCKIES. TRANSIENT RIDGING WILL MOVE FROM THE PLAINS TO THE MS VALLEY THIS PERIOD.
...CNTRL/SRN HIGH PLAINS... ANOTHER STRONG SHORT WAVE TROUGH COMING ACROSS THE CA/ORE COAST THIS MORNING WILL ROTATE THROUGH THE LARGER-SCALE TROUGH ESTABLISHED ACROSS THE WEST THROUGH TONIGHT. MID LEVEL SWLY FLOW IS FORECAST TO STRENGTHEN ACROSS ROCKIES AND ADJACENT HIGH PLAINS THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON AS LEE CYCLOGENESIS OCCURS OVER WY/CO. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ...CURRENTLY MARGINAL FOR DEEP CONVECTION...WILL INCREASE NWWD AS PRESSURE FALLS COMMENCE IN EARNEST LATER THIS MORNING AND LOW LEVEL SELY FLOW STRENGTHENS. COMBINED WITH BOUNDARY LAYER HEATING AND STEEPENING LAPSE RATES ALOFT...EXPECT A GENERALLY N-S AXIS OF INSTABILITY TO DEVELOP WITH MLCAPE VALUES RANGING FROM ABOUT 500 J/KG ACROSS SERN WY...TO AS HIGH AS 2000 J/KG OVER PARTS OF TX.
LACK OF STRONGER DESTABILIZATION WITH NWWD EXTENT WILL MOST LIKELY BE COMPENSATED FOR BY STRONG DYNAMIC FORCING FOR ASCENT WITH THE APPROACHING SHORT WAVE...AS WELL AS OROGRAPHIC/UPSLOPE FLOW. THESE INFLUENCES WILL LEAD TO THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT...FIRST OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN TO THE WEST...AND THEN SPREADING EAST INTO AXIS OF MODEST INSTABILITY FROM SERN WY ACROSS NERN CO. PRONOUNCED SPEED SHEAR...AS WELL AS STRONG DIRECTIONAL SHEAR LOWER IN THE STORM UPDRAFT WILL LEAD TO ROTATING CELLS CAPABLE OF VERY LARGE HAIL AND PERHAPS A COUPLE OF TORNADOES.
FARTHER SOUTH ALONG THE DRY LINE...FROM SERN CO TO WEST TX/ERN NM...STORM INITIATION BECOMES MORE UNCERTAIN. LACK OF STRONGER HEIGHT FALLS/FORCING AND DEGREE OF CONVECTIVE INHIBITION SUGGEST THAT STORM DEVELOPMENT WILL BE ISOLATED ALONG THIS AXIS. CONSENSUS EXISTS AMONG HIGH RESOLUTION MODELS AND THE NAM THAT SURFACE HEATING AND WEAK BACKGROUND ASCENT MAY BE ADEQUATE FOR AT LEAST A COUPLE OF STORMS TO INITIATE...ESPECIALLY FROM TX PNHDL SOUTH TO NEAR THE PECOS RIVER. SHEAR PROFILES WILL BE SUPPORTIVE OF SUPERCELLS AND LARGE HAIL SHOULD BE THE PRIMARY HAZARD FROM THIS ACTIVITY THAT MAY DECAY RATHER QUICKLY AFTER DARK.
.CNTRL/SRN HI PLNS THROUGH EARLY WED... INCREASING FORCING FOR ASCENT...STRENGTHENING/DIFFLUENT UPR FLOW ...LOW LVL MOISTURE RETURN...AND SFC CYCLOGENESIS WILL SUPPORT A SUBSTANTIAL SVR POTENTIAL OVER THE CNTRL/SRN HI PLNS TODAY/TONIGHT. STG/SVR TSTMS SHOULD FORM MORE OR LESS SIMULTANEOUSLY IN CONFLUENT...MODERATELY UPSLOPE FLOW OVER ERN CO/NE NM...AND ALONG N-S DRYLINE NEAR THE NM-TX BORDER.
STEEPENING LOW TO MID LVL LAPSE RATES...MODERATE INSTABILITY AND STG VERTICAL SHEAR/VEERING WIND PROFILES WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS...WITH LARGE HAIL AND SOME TORNADOES. THIS THREAT SHOULD BE GREATEST LATE THIS AFTN/EARLY TONIGHT OVER SE CO/FAR ERN NM AND MUCH OF W TX. WITH MODERATE SLY LLJ LIKELY TO INCREASE IN RESPONSE TO CONTINUED EWD PROGRESSION OF GRT BASIN UPR TROUGH...THE RELATIVELY GREATEST TORNADO THREAT A BIT LATER THIS EVE MAY EXIST OVER PARTS OF THE TX PANHANDLE AND ADJACENT TX S PLNS...NEAR SFC WARM FRONT/CONVECTIVE OUTFLOW/DRY LINE INTERSECTION.
OTHERWISE...THE INCREASING LLJ SHOULD SUPPORT UPSCALE DEVELOPMENT INTO ONE OR MORE SE-MOVING MCSS TONIGHT. WITH EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS AND SUSTAINED STORMS/BOWING SEGMENTS...THESE LIKELY WILL YIELD A CONTINUED THREAT FOR SVR HAIL...DMGG WIND...AND PERHAPS AN ISOLD TORNADO INTO PARTS OF NW TX AND POSSIBLY WRN OK
CURRENT SEVERE MCS NWRN TX TRACKING SEWD INTO FAVORABLE INSTABILITY AND SHOULD CONTINUE. ADDITIONALLY AS LAPSE RATES STEEPEN WITH DAYTIME HEATING THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OFF HIGHER TERRAIN ERN NM INTO SERN CO. WITH MLCAPES TO 2000 J/KG...LAPSE RATES ABOVE 8C/KM AND 35 KT OF SHEAR...CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR A FEW SUPERCELLS BY MID/LATE AFTERNOON WITH PRIMARY THREAT VERY LARGE HAIL. HAVE EXTENDED THE RISK INTO SERN CO FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND SWRN KS FOR THIS EVENING AS THE SAME SHEAR AND INSTABILITY CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO BE AVAILABLE AS FURTHER S.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - The National Weather Service has upgraded two of the tornadoes that hit central Oklahoma on Monday to EF-4 status.
The agency's Norman office said Friday a twister that traveled from Moore to Choctaw and another that started in Norman and traveled through Little Axe to Pink both had wind speeds of between 166 mph and 200 mph.
Tornadoes are rated from 0 to 5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale based on the damage they cause. The weather service originially rated the two tornadoes as EF-3 storms.
Four other twisters in Oklahoma on Monday have been rated as EF-3. Fewer than 5 percent of tornadoes are rated as EF-3 or higher.
Rick Smith, a warning coordination meteorologist with the weather service, says the agency upgraded the status of the two storms after looking at photographic evidence and visiting damage sites that had previously been closed off.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
DAY 3 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0212 AM CDT SUN MAY 16 2010
VALID 181200Z - 191200Z
...THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS ACROSS PARTS OF WEST TX AND THE TX PANHANDLE...
...SRN AND CNTRL HIGH PLAINS... AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW IS FORECAST TO MOVE ACROSS THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST TUESDAY AS A MID-LEVEL JET ROUNDS THE BASE OF THE TROUGH. AT THE SFC...A MOIST AXIS SHOULD EXIST ACROSS WEST TX EXTENDING NNWWD INTO SE CO WHERE MODEL FORECASTS DEVELOP MODERATE INSTABILITY BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. AS LARGE-SCALE ASCENT INCREASES DUE TO THE APPROACH OF THE UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH AND A CAPPING INVERSION WEAKENS...CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT SHOULD OCCUR NEAR THE EXIT REGION OF THE MID-LEVEL JET FROM SE CO SSEWD ONTO THE CAPROCK OF WEST TX. FORECAST SOUNDINGS ALONG THIS CORRIDOR AT 00Z SHOW STRONG DEEP LAYER SHEAR PROFILES ASSOCIATED WITH THE MID-LEVEL JET AND STEEP MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES SUGGESTING A THREAT FOR SUPERCELLS WITH LARGE HAIL MAY DEVELOP. THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WOULD BE ON THE NRN EDGE OF STRONGEST INSTABILITY ACROSS THE TX PANHANDLE WHERE A SLIGHT RISK HAS BEEN INTRODUCED.
UPDATE: (CNN) -- At least three people were killed and several others critically injured in Oklahoma on Monday after a severe weather system spawned multiple tornadoes across the state, including a massive twister recorded on video over Norman, Oklahoma.
The state medical examiner's office confirmed three deaths as a result of the storm, spokeswoman Cherokee Ballard said. One person died in southeastern Oklahoma City and another in Cleveland County. Ballard did not know the location of the third death.
Brenda Finkle, director of corporate communications for Norman Regional Health System, said the company's hospital in Norman admitted eight patients Monday night in critical condition with crush injuries and head trauma.
At least 25 other people filled the waiting room of Norman Regional Hospital with lacerations and head wounds, Finkle said, adding hospital staff expected more patients to continue to seek treatment.
Another 20 people were either getting medical care or awaiting treatment at Moore Medical Center, just north of Norman, according to Finkle.
OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, received two patients with broken bones, according to spokesman Allen Poston.
The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management reported seven injuries.
Video out of Norman showed overturned cars, snapped utility poles, downed trees and severely damaged homes. Several mobile homes were blown to pieces in one neighborhood where debris littered yards and streets alongside large trees ripped straight from the ground.
A truck stop east of Oklahoma City was demolished, taking a direct hit from one of the tornadoes, according to a spokeswoman for Love's Travel Stops and Country Stores.
Motorists pulled off Interstate 40 and sought shelter in the truck stop's large coolers and restrooms before the tornado tore the roof off the building, blew out car windows and overturned tractor-trailers, spokeswoman Christina Dukeman said.
Video showed people outside the truck stop receiving treatment for minor injuries. Laura O'Leary, a spokeswoman for the Emergency Medical Services Authority, said seven people were transported from around the immediate area to local hospitals in good and fair condition, "a miraculously low number ... considering the volume of area the tornado covered."
Love's employee Charlescie Greenway said she and two other women made it to one cooler before the twister tore through the building.
"The three of us were kind of trapped in there, holding the door shut, praying to God that we don't die and that everybody else was safe," Greenway told CNN affiliate KWTV, adding, "it was really scary -- the wind was like trying to pull the door off the latch."
Sammy Ward and his partner rode the twister out in their truck in the parking lot.
"It started hailing and then it quit hailing and then all of a sudden the wind hit and it just went dark and here went everything," Ward told KWTV. "Trucks went to rocking ... and next thing we know the whole roof and everything was gone."
Ward, who said he felt "very lucky," said the event lasted two to three minutes.
Albert Ashwood, director of the state emergency management department, said crews were working to assess the damages in at least 13 counties, adding "numerous" homes had been affected.
The American Red Cross opened at least two shelters in McCloud, Oklahoma, and Tecumseh, Oklahoma, and continued to assess needs across the state.
More than 31,000 homes were without power in the metro Oklahoma City area -- nearly 15,000 in Norman alone, according to Oklahoma Gas & Electric.
Ashwood said preliminary reports out of Norman indicate the damages are "similar to what you would see with an EF3" tornado, referring to the Enhanced Fujita Scale for measuring the strength of tornadoes. An EF3 is capable of producing winds up to 165 mph.
CNN iReporter Rebecca Barbato said tornado sirens were going off in her neighborhood in Moore, just north of Norman, when tennis-ball-sized hail began raining down on her roof.
Other tornadoes were reported in Yukon, Medford and Shawnee in Oklahoma, and in Wichita, Kansas.
The storms struck around 5 p.m. CT (6 p.m. ET).
Meteorologists warned throughout the day Monday of the potential for tornadoes.
BANDS/CLUSTERS OF ELEVATED TSTMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE ONGOING EARLY MONDAY ACROSS PORTIONS OF ERN KS/OK OWING TO A ROBUST WAA REGIME WITHIN A BROAD 45-50 KT SSWLY LLJ. THIS ACTIVITY MAY PROVE PROBLEMATIC FOR A NWD EXPANSION OF THE WARM SECTOR MONDAY AFTN AND THIS UNCERTAINTY WAS THE PRIMARY REASON FOR NOT UPGRADING TO A MDT RISK.
CONFIDENCE REMAINS SUFFICIENTLY HIGH...HOWEVER...IN THE RETURN OF MID/UPR 60S BOUNDARY LAYER DEW POINTS E OF THE DRYLINE/TRIPLE POINT INTO AT LEAST SWRN KS BY AFTN. DRYLINE CIRCULATION WILL DEEPEN WITH APPROACH OF THE UPR TROUGH BY MID-AFTN AND STRONG HEATING WILL ERODE CINH FOR TSTM INITIATION...MOSTLY LIKELY IN WRN KS. FARTHER S...CINH WILL BE STRONGER AND LARGE SCALE FORCING COMPARATIVELY WEAKER ACROSS WRN OK. BUT...ISOLD STORM DEVELOPMENT CANNOT BE RULED OUT AS FAR S AS WRN OK/RED RIVER.
EFFECTIVE SHEAR IN EXCESS OF 55 KTS AND THE ORIENTATION OF VECTORS PERPENDICULAR TO THE DRYLINE WILL STRONGLY SUPPORT SUPERCELLS. FCST HODOGRAPHS EXHIBIT STRONGLY VEERING LOW-LEVEL WINDS WITH THE COMPLETE VERTICAL PROFILE SIGNATURES INDICATIVE OF HISTORIC STRONG TORNADIC CASES. VERY LARGE HAIL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE.
ZCZC SPCSWOD48 ALL ACUS48 KWNS 060822 SPC AC 060822
DAY 4-8 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0322 AM CDT THU MAY 06 2010
VALID 091200Z - 141200Z
...DISCUSSION...
06/00Z ECMWF...GFS AND MEDIUM-RANGE ENSEMBLE GUIDANCE ARE IN GENERALLY GOOD AGREEMENT IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE LARGE-SCALE PATTERN THROUGH THE EXTENDED FORECAST PERIOD. ON DAY 4 /SUN MAY 9TH/...THE NWD RETURN OF A MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER BENEATH THE ERN EDGE OF AN EML DEVELOPING OVER THE WRN STATES WILL CONTRIBUTE TO A MODERATELY UNSTABLE AIR MASS OVER WRN TX. THERE IS SOME INDICATION THAT A WEAK...LOW AMPLITUDE PERTURBATION MAY PROGRESS EWD INTO THE SRN HIGH PLAINS BY LATE DAY...POSSIBLY SUPPORTING ISOLATED STORM FORMATION ALONG THE DRY LINE...OR PERHAPS A RETREATING WARM FRONT. VERTICAL SHEAR WILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR ORGANIZED STORMS INCLUDING SUPERCELLS WITH THE THREATS FOR HAIL AND PERHAPS TORNADOES. DUE TO UNCERTAINTIES IN STORM INITIATION AND POTENTIAL COVERAGE...NO SEVERE WEATHER AREA WILL BE INCLUDED IN THIS FORECAST.
ON DAY 5 /MON MAY 10TH/...MODEL GUIDANCE REMAINS CONSISTENT IN THE NEWD PROGRESSION OF AN INTENSE...NEGATIVELY-TILTED MIDLEVEL TROUGH INTO THE CNTRL PLAINS. AN ASSOCIATED...RAPIDLY DEEPENING SURFACE LOW OVER THE CNTRL HIGH PLAINS WILL DRAW A MOIST AIR MASS NWD...SETTING THE STAGE FOR A POTENTIAL OUTBREAK OF SUPERCELLS CAPABLE OF VERY LARGE HAIL AND SIGNIFICANT TORNADOES.
ON DAY 6 /TUE MAY 11TH/...THE SYNOPTIC SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO DE-AMPLIFY/FILL AS IS PROGRESSES NEWD INTO THE UPPER GREAT LAKES. SEVERE STORMS WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE ALONG THE COLD FRONT FROM THE UPPER MIDWEST INTO OZARK PLATEAU. HOWEVER...GIVEN THE EXPECTED POOR LAPSE RATES...WEAKENING SYSTEM AND POTENTIAL FOR ONGOING/WIDESPREAD STORMS...THE POTENTIAL FOR A MORE WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER EVENT REMAINS IN QUESTION.
ON DAY 7 /WED MAY 12TH/...THE ECMWF AND GFS ARE IN RELATIVELY GOOD AGREEMENT IN THE SLOW EWD PROGRESSION OF A LARGE-SCALE TROUGH OVER THE WRN STATES. HOWEVER...DIFFERENCES DO EXIST IN THE LOCATION OF NE-SW ORIENTED BAROCLINIC ZONE WHICH WILL STRETCH FROM WEAKENING LOW PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT LAKES REGION INTO THE SRN PLAINS. THIS FRONTAL LOCATION BECOMES EVEN MORE PROBLEMATIC WHEN FACTORING IN THE POSSIBILITY THAT EPISODIC TSTM ACTIVITY FOR THE PREVIOUS TWO DAYS COULD POTENTIALLY DISPLACE THE EFFECTIVE FRONT EVEN FARTHER S. WHILE THE ENVIRONMENT ALONG AND TO THE S OF THIS BOUNDARY WILL BE SUPPORTIVE OF SEVERE STORMS...UNCERTAINTY IN ITS LOCATION PRECLUDES THE ISSUANCE OF AN ADDITIONAL SEVERE WEATHER AREA.
