Storm chasing in the plains
April 14th, 2012 at 8:29 pm by Tara Hastings under Weather
The big weather story here in the Miami Valley has been the much needed rain but farther west a large tornado outbreak is in progress. Our own Brandon Redmond is chasing with SWAT (Severe Weather Alert Team) Here’s a LINK to the live video feed.
First our weather: Today we had heavy downpours and lots of lightning. I was also amazed at how loud and long some of the thunder lasted. Our weathercheckers around the Miami Valley picked up anywhere from a half to more than an inch of rain.
Showers wind down tonight and we’re in store for a nice Sunday. Our risk of severe weather is low and I am keeping our Severe Weather Index in the low category.
However the same system that brought us the rain is producing severe weather in the plains. Here’s a look at the Storm Prediction Center’s (SPC) rare HIGH risk of severe weather. (I’m not sure I’ve seen a high risk this large before)
Several tornado watches have been issued – but these watches are not ordinary tornado watches. SPC has issued several PDS or Particularly Dangerous Situation watches. Here’s a look at the PDS watches in effect in yellow – the small red boxes are tornado warnings. **This is as of 8pm eastern**
Meteorologist Brandon Redmond has been out with SWAT chasing these storms in Kansas. His team has already captured a funnel cloud and are on another storm right now. You can check out the live feed by clicking here. (Be aware – due to data connection issues there may be a delay – sometimes there are dead spots on the country roads.
The large area of low pressure is going to move eastward – as it does a warm front is going to lift north of us – this means lots of Sunday, warm and breezy winds for the Miami Valley. Here’s what it looks like on Future Trac.
The nice conditions only last for one day because the front moves through Monday meaning there’s a chance for rain.
The threat of rain looks like it’s just going to be for the first half of the day. Doesn’t look like we’ll see severe weather on Monday. It appears all of the stronger storms will stay well west of us.
I live in Fort Collins, Colorado.
When are you going to update this story? 3000+ people watched SWAT/Brandon Redmond last night on a live feed drive into a wedge tornado in Wichita, KS. on the corner of Macarthur and Oliver Rd.