Video: Large Tornado southwest of Cherokee, Oklahoma

15 April 2012 David Reimer 1 Comment

Texas Storm Chasers’ David Reimer and Jenny Brown filmed multiple tornadoes from a cyclic supercell in extreme northern Oklahoma during the April 14, 2012 Tornado Outbreak that affected Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. This was one of the first tornadoes produced by the supercell that would go on to produce tornadoes in Southern Kansas and WIchita, Kansas. Be sure to check out the zoomed in shot as the tornado moved over the road with debris clearly visible! This is only a short portion of nearly an hour of tornado footage shot from multiple high definition cameras. All this footage will be included in the Texas Storm Chasers 2012 Storm Footage DVD.

This video is available for immediate media licensing. Please see our media contact page for more information under ‘David Reimer’.

April 11 Severe Weather Outlook

11 April 2012 David Reimer 1 Comment

The Storm Prediction Center has placed all of Eastern New Mexico, West Texas, and the Texas Panhandle in the standard “slight” risk of severe weather for the afternoon and evening hours. The strongest thunderstorms today will be capable of producing tennis ball size hail, damaging outflow winds around 60 MPH, and a tornado or two. Thunderstorms should begin forming by 4 PM along the Texas/New Mexico border and along a boundary oriented along Interstate 40. Thunderstorms will be slow moving and capable of producing heavy rainfall, so keep that in mind if you end up being under one for a while.

A significant outbreak of severe weather still appears likely on Friday and Saturday with the possibility of significant tornadoes. Please see our Facebook page for a video explaining the severe weather risks for the upcoming days.

Severe Weather Outlook for Saturday, April 7

06 April 2012 David Reimer 0 Comments

Saturday's Severe Weather Outlook

This graphic shows the probability of severe weather occurring within 25 miles of any given point (such as a house) on Saturday, mainly during the afternoon and early evening hours. The standard severe weather risk, a 15 percent chance of severe weather occuring within 25 miles of any given point, is in effect from Southwest Texas northeastward into Southern Oklahoma. This risk includes Texas cities such as San Angelo, Midland, Big Spring, Abilene, Vernon, Wichita Falls, Weatherford, Decatur, Denton, Gainesville, Sherman. In addition, Southern Oklahoma is also in the standard risk. Surrounding the standard risk, a lower risk of severe weather encompasses more of Texas.

Saturday’s setup will be one with moderate instability and low wind shear. A cold front will be moving south across the affected regions on Saturday. During the peak heating hours in the afternoon, some storms may become marginally severe as the cold front provides atmospheric lift. The primary threat on Saturday will be ‘coin-size’ hail (nickel to quarters) and a few downbursts capable of producing winds around 60 MPH. Because of very weak low level wind shear and the overall lack of any mesoscale features capable of enhancing wind shear (as what occurred on Tuesday), the tornado threat should be low.

I’m actually sitting in Philadelphia International Airport right now waiting to board my flight back to Dallas. I was originally scheduled to fly out tomorrow afternoon, but decided to push it up to avoid the flight delays on Saturday along with possibly chasing if the setup warrants.

Today’s Severe Weather Risk

04 April 2012 David Reimer 0 Comments

First time I’ve ever gotten to write a blog post from the air. Looks like I’ve just started decent into the Philidelphia area. Anyway, the storm prediction center has issued their standard risk of severe weather for the afternoon and early evening hours for much of coastal Texas. The risk generally includes areas within 75 miles of the coastline. The severe weather threats will be coin-size hail (nickels, quarters, half dollars) and damaging downburst winds. The tornado threat is non-zero and we certainly don’t anticipate anything like we saw yesterday in North Texas. We’ll continue to post damage survey results on our Facebook and Twitter pages from Tuesday’s outbreak.

1 PM Severe Weather Update

02 April 2012 David Reimer 0 Comments

Here’s a short update as we patiently wait for thunderstorms to form in Wichita Falls. This is the latest severe weather outlook for this afternoon and tonight across Texas and Oklahoma. A standard risk of severe weather remains in effect for locations inside the teal line, which does include much of Texas east of the Caprock. An enhanced risk zone, where we expect the most severe thunderstorms, is highlighted by the yellow outline. Inside this enhanced risk, there is a 30 percent chance of severe weather within 25 miles of any given point. In addition, very large hail is also expected in some storms, hence that white dotted line. We still expect storms to fire along the dryline after 5 PM and slowly move east. The overall number of storms is expected to remain low through the evening, but any storm that forms will be quite severe. Later on tonight, a more widespread line of thunderstorms will form along the dryline with a continued risk of large hail and damaging winds. In addition, a brief tornado is also possible, but the overall risk is fairly marginal. We’re out chasing today and our live chasercam is online! Watch it by clicking the graphic at the top of the page.