The National Weather Service in Valley, Nebraska, has issued a tornado watch for southwest and south-central portions of Iowa until 9 p.m. Wednesday.
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“The slow-moving nature of the storm system will also bring an elevated risk of flash flooding”, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Edward Vallee.
One ingredient in creating severe storms is cold air in the middle level of the atmosphere, and that was very well forecast.
“This is a particularly risky situation”, the Storm Prediction Center alerted in red type in an afternoon advisory. They took what should have been a simple heads up on possible severe weather – not just tornadoes, but large hail and unsafe winds – and morphed it into a tornado outbreak.
While most of the severe weather damage came from large hail and damaging winds this week, the number of tornadoes saw a certain uptick as well. After Hurricane Patricia’s passing last week, the region was hit with more torrential rain and possible tornadoes. NWS Fort Worth Meteorologist Juan Hernandez said by daybreak the storms are expected to be across the Red River and a few morning hours might be without rain.
Another round of severe storms may hit the southern and central U.S. Thursday, lasting into the weekend. The center said there was a lesser risk of tornadoes. She noted that some broadcasters talked up tornadoes as though they were certain.
At least two Oklahoma school districts decided the threat was significant enough to shut down for the day. Many criticized the forecast as a “bust”, even though it was largely correct.
A day after Nebraska largely dodged severe weather, a tornado briefly touched down in northwest Omaha on Wednesday afternoon.
“Monitoring the weather for severe situations to give people a heads up for hail or tornado that may head their way”, Rossi said. “The overall event was generally ok, the “bust” is in the hyper-discussion and anticipation of an outbreak”.
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The storm knocked down tree limbs and left about 20,000 people in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area without power, utility provider OG&E and local officials said. “However, I frequently encourage society to move beyond the notion of being upset when preparing for the worst and it does not happen”. But do you really know what they mean?
