A large, violent tornado struck the Oklahoma City metro area this afternoon, causing widespread destruction and devastation through the town of Moore. The radar image on the right shows the supercell thunderstorm responsible for this tornado, featuring an incredibly pronounced hook structure. The ball of reflectivity in the center of the hook is a debris ball - debris lofted into the air from the tornado. This particular storm went from an ordinary cumulus cloud to a monster supercell in only 30 minutes. However, the NWS office in Norman, OK, issued warnings at least 15 minutes before the tornado even touched down. Even with the warnings, this was still a near worst case scenario, with an EF4 to EF5 tornado plowing through a heavily populated area. Most homes and businesses in the direct path of the tornado were simply wiped off the ground, leaving only the concrete foundation. Worst of all, this tornado completely destroyed an elementary school with dozens of children inside. At latest check, the death toll is 51 with 20 of those coming from the elementary school. Incredibly, some debris from the storm has been reported on the ground as far east as Missouri.
Sadly, Moore, OK, is no stranger to tornadoes. A violent EF5 tornado ripped through this suburb on May 3, 1999, and followed an eerily similar path (see image at right). I don't know the exact chances of this happening statistically, but the odds are astronomically small. Another severe weather outbreak appears likely on Tuesday, focused a little further east. There will be a little less jet stream energy to work with tomorrow, which will hopefully keep storms from reaching the intensity seen today.
A large, violent tornado struck the Oklahoma City metro area this afternoon, causing widespread destruction and devastation through the town of Moore. The radar image on the right shows the supercell thunderstorm responsible for this tornado, featuring an incredibly pronounced hook structure. The ball of reflectivity in the center of the hook is a debris ball - debris lofted into the air from the tornado. This particular storm went from an ordinary cumulus cloud to a monster supercell in only 30 minutes. However, the NWS office in Norman, OK, issued warnings at least 15 minutes before the tornado even touched down. Even with the warnings, this was still a near worst case scenario, with an EF4 to EF5 tornado plowing through a heavily populated area. Most homes and businesses in the direct path of the tornado were simply wiped off the ground, leaving only the concrete foundation. Worst of all, this tornado completely destroyed an elementary school with dozens of children inside. At latest check, the death toll is 51 with 20 of those coming from the elementary school. Incredibly, some debris from the storm has been reported on the ground as far east as Missouri.
Sadly, Moore, OK, is no stranger to tornadoes. A violent EF5 tornado ripped through this suburb on May 3, 1999, and followed an eerily similar path (see image at right). I don't know the exact chances of this happening statistically, but the odds are astronomically small. Another severe weather outbreak appears likely on Tuesday, focused a little further east. There will be a little less jet stream energy to work with tomorrow, which will hopefully keep storms from reaching the intensity seen today.
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