Thursday, August 16, 2012

Cold Front to Bring Cooler Temps / Severe Weather Threat to Plains-Midwest Later Today...


A cold front is moving Southeast through the Midwest and central Plains this morning, and will become the focus for severe thunderstorm development later this afternoon into this evening.  Above is the latest severe weather outlook from the SPC in Norman, OK, with the threat of severe weather noted in yellow.

Thunderstorms are forecast to develop along and ahead of the frontal boundary by mid to late afternoon, with some of those storms becoming severe.  Damaging wind gusts and large hail are the primary threats this afternoon and evening.

The front will bring much needed rain to portions of Oklahoma, though likely on a scattered basis, with locally heavy storms producing one half inch or more of rain in the affected locations: 



Perhaps the biggest story with this front will be a significant cooldown for many areas.  The computer model forecast image below calls for temperatures at 7pm CDT tomorrow, Friday, to average 20 or more degrees below normal over southwest Nebraska, with below normal temperatures also forecast over the remainder of the region in the green and purple shaded areas on the map (departure from normal scale in degrees F on the right):


Indeed, high temperatures on Friday are only forecast to reach the 80s across much of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri, with 60s and 70s across portions of Nebraska and Iowa:


If you live across the severe weather threat areas for today, please remain alert especially during the late afternoon and evening hours.  Listen to NOAA Weather Radio, local media or another trusted source for the latest information and possible warnings.  Be prepared to move to a safe shelter immediately if threatening weather is observed or a warning is issued for your area.

For more information from the Original Weather Blog, including "live blogging" during rapidly changing weather events, please be sure to follow me on facebook and/or twitter:
 

No comments: