Severe Weather Wednesday
Severe weather struck the Central and Southern Plains during the afternoon and evening hours Wednesday, accumulating in over 160 reports of severe weather.
Unfortunately, that did come with eight reports of tornadoes. The most talked about tornadoes have been in Moore, OK and in Sand Springs, OK (right outside of Tulsa). Sadly, in Sand Springs there was one fatality from the storm. School was cancelled today in Tulsa, Sand Springs, and Moore.
Here is the preliminary information from NWS Norman on the tornado that went through Moore, OK. Crews are out surveying the damage today to find out how strong the tornado was that hit.This isn’t the first tornado to hit the Moore, OK area – two E/F5 tornadoes have hit the area in the past, one in May of 1999, another in May of 2013, plus they have seen a lot of other weaker tornadoes as well. NWS Norman has a list of all the tornadoes in the records that have hit the area.
Now, the United States has been in a bit of a severe weather and tornado drought so far this year. However, they aren’t the only ones. Until the tornadoes yesterday, only 19 tornadoes have touched down in Oklahoma since May 31, 2013 – the day of the El Reno tornado. Only 16 touched down all of last year. The average number of tornadoes per year in the Sooner State is 55.
The good news is that many areas that got hit yesterday will get a break in the weather today to recover, though temperatures will be cooler than they were Wednesday across the region.
[FORECAST: Oklahoma City – Tulsa – Springfield, MO]
While we will be still tracking the threat of severe weather today and tomorrow, the threat is much less than it was yesterday. Today the threat for severe weather exists from the Outer Banks up into parts of the Delmarva Peninsula as well as parts of the Florida panhandle. Friday the threat shifts over the Florida peninsula. Both days the biggest threat will be strong winds.
[Track Storms: Interactive Radar]
Rest of the Country
NWS forecast snow totals through Saturday evening. Graphic: WeatherBell
Looking at the rest of the country, we are first watching the chance of snow over the next few days in the Northeast. Some areas could pick up 2-4″ of snow by Friday from Erie, PA, to Maine.
Meanwhile, record heat will be the story out west from today into the weekend. Here are some areas that have the potential of breaking record highs later today.
[VIDEO FORECAST: Northwest – Southwest]
The list of locations with potentially record breaking heat increases Friday – with even cities like Los Angeles and San Diego possibly breaking their record highs.
Meteorologist D.J. Kayser
Find me on Twitter (@dkayserwx) or on Facebook (Meteorologist D.J. Kayser)