Oklahoma tornado outbreak; warmer air finally in sight for Minnesota?
It was good tonic to see the sun today.
Our weekend rains brought another 1 to 3 inches of rain to many already soggy backyards and farm fields. But I'm not complaining as a significant tornado and severe weather outbreak lashes the southern Plains tonight.
High risk
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center doesn't toss out high risk areas often. The atmospheric setup is perfect tonight across northern Texas and Oklahoma. Several tornadoes have already been sighted as I write this post, and it's still early in what looks like a long night of twisters.
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PDS tornado watches
NOAA reserves the title of Particularly Dangerous Situation tornado watches for the most volatile situations. This is one of them.
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Tornado Watch Number 199
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
135 PM CDT Mon May 20 2019
The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a
* Tornado Watch for portions of
Central and Western Oklahoma
Northwest Texas
* Effective this Monday afternoon and evening from 135 PM until
1000 PM CDT.
...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...
* Primary threats include...
Numerous tornadoes and several intense tornadoes expected
Widespread damaging winds and scattered significant gusts to 80
mph expected
Widespread large hail and scattered very large hail events to 4
inches in diameter expected
SUMMARY...An outbreak of tornadoes, including the risk of intense
and long-track tornadoes, is expected to develop this afternoon
across the watch area. Very large hail and damaging wind gusts are
expected with the numerous supercell storms.
See the latest storm reports here.
Minnesota: Next rain arrives Tuesday
The same storm that's cranking out tornadoes in Oklahoma tonight will be more docile when it arrives in Minnesota Tuesday night. Expect rain to develop in southwest Minnesota midday, and spread into the Twin Cities by afternoon rush hours. It rains hard again Tuesday night. Occasional lighter showers linger Wednesday.
Here's NOAA's GFS model.
Another soaker
Another inch of rain is likely across most of Minnesota. Totals could exceed 2 inches in the south.
70s return this week
Our weather finally turns warmer again late this week. We get more rain Friday, but right now Thursday, Saturday and Sunday look potentially pleasant.
Hints of summer?
There are some early signs our weather pattern will turn warmer and drier in the first week of June. I'm from Missouri on this one, but here's the upper air map.
NOAA's GFS is cranking out more frequent temps near 80 degrees the first week of June.
Stay tuned.