More Severe Weather In Central U.S.

Good afternoon everyone. This morning, I happened to be talking to my mother, who told me that there was another severe weather outbreak in the Central United States on Saturday. Tornadoes touched down in Kansas and Oklahoma while a tornado watch had been issued for about seven hours in portions of the region. Upon hearing this, I went in to investigate. According to the Associated Press, there were strong storms and twisters that affected western portions of Kansas and Oklahoma on Friday.

One of the more notable areas that was affected was Greenburg, Kansas, which experienced a significant tornado last year. This time the storm brushed the outskirts of the town. Over in Oklahoma, a tornado was spotted some 10 miles to the Northeast of Fort Supply. These storms were already in addition to another twister that emerged on Thursday in Northern Colorado. On Friday, the National Weather Service conducted a survey of the damage caused by the twister in Greeley, Colorado. With the evidence collected, the NWS figured that an EF3 tornado struck Greeley with 136 to 165 miles per hour while another hit Windsor with winds clocked at 111 to 135 miles per hour. Moreover, twisters even struck Wyoming. On Friday, a couple small twisters touched down in Platte County as well..

In total, there were 209 storm reports throughout eight different states on Friday according to figures provided by the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. They broke down into 63 tornado reports, 44 high wind reports, and 102 hail reports. On Thursday, there were 249 storm reports spread across 12 different states including: 48 tornado sightings, 57 high wind reports, and 144 hail reports. Moving on to Saturday, the severe weather was quelled somewhat with only 119 reports including: 13 twister sightings, 29 high wind reports, and 77 reports of hail.

More specifically, the severe weather on Saturday produced three touchdowns near Dewey, South Dakota according to a rancher there. Furthermore, there were four more twisters sighted across the state of Oklahoma. Golf ball sized hail was also reported in South Dakota while many other locales indicated that nickel to dime sized hail fell. Looking at the latest analysis courtesy of The Weather Channel, more of the same is expected not only for Sunday, but also for Monday as well. Severe weather consisting of possible tornado threats coupled with the chance of 3/4 inch hail, and winds exceeding 58 miles per hour is expected over a large swath of the nation’s mid-section. From the international border between the U.S. and Canada in Minnesota all the way down to the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, strong to severe thunderstorms are expected.