Weather Water Cooler

A volatile situation exists today as another potent area of low pressure tracks towards the east.  The ingredients are all there for a high impact, violent tornado outbreak for portions of eastern Oklahoma and southern Kansas.  A dryline will be the culprit for storm initiation, with warm and muggy air in front of it.  Wind shear is very high, and strong, long lived tornadoes have been known to occur in an airmass such as this.  This particular situation is being watched highly as well because the storms will track east, eventually into already hard-hit areas of Missouri.

To give you an indicator of the seriousness of the situation, here are snippets from National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center discussions this morning.

From The Storm Prediction Center:

CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR THE STORMS TO ASSUME
   STRONG...SUSTAINED ROTATION...AND TO PRODUCE POSSIBLY VIOLENT
   TORNADOES AND VERY LARGE HAIL AS THEY MOVE / DEVELOP GENERALLY
   NORTHEASTWARD INTO EASTERN PORTIONS OF KANSAS AND OKLAHOMA.
   STATE AND LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGERS ARE MONITORING THIS POTENTIALLY
   VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. THOSE IN THE THREATENED AREA ARE URGED TO
   REVIEW SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY RULES AND TO LISTEN TO
   RADIO...TELEVISION...AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR POSSIBLE
   WATCHES...WARNINGS...AND STATEMENTS LATER TODAY.
From NWS Tulsa:
THIS COMBINATION
OF HIGH INSTABILITY AND VERY IMPRESSIVE DIRECTIONAL SHEAR SUGGESTS
THAT MOST OF THE AREA COULD BE UNDER THE GUN FOR A WIDESPREAD
OUTBREAK OF SEVERE WEATHER WITH VERY LARGE HAIL AND POSSIBLE STRONG
LONG LIVED TORNADOES. STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ALREADY HOISTED A
HIGH RISK FOR MOST OF SOUTH CENTRAL KS...WITH A MODERATE RISK FOR
THE REST OF THE AREA. CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH THE HEIGHTENED POTENTIAL
FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND POSSIBLE STRONG TO VIOLENT TORNADOES LATE
THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING.