Strong Spring Storm In The Winter?

Thats right it happened the past could of days. A strong storm wound up in the middle of the country throwing snow in the Northern Plains, while dishing out violent tornadic thunderstorms from the Heartland to the Midsouth. Typically, this type of storm occurs during late March and early April, as the season transitions from Winter to Spring. However, if the right mix of ingredients come together in the atmosphere, this type of event can happen anytime of the year.

The following image is a Doppler Radar display of the action from earlier this afternoon with a plethora of tornado watches:

Areas from Mississippi towards Ohio and Virginia are experiencing the worst of it right now as a powerful cold front that is a attached to parent low situated in the western Great Lakes. Additionally, the snowy side of the storm will move across the Great Lakes and into New England.

Now that the storms continue to traverse towards the east, areas that got hit hard yesterday can begin to clean up. Several cells produced strong, long tracking tornadoes, particularly in Missouri yesterday. The following is a product from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) in Norman, Oklahoma, illustrating where severe weather occurred yesterday.

Red dots on this map correlates with tornadoes that were confirmed. Most notably, an EF-2 tornado touched down in Branson, Missouri. Not only were winds estimated to have reached 130mph, but the track was an astonishing 22 miles long, while the actual tornado was 400 yards wide.

The above picture was taken in Branson from The Weather Channel. Damage just like this could be seen all across the town of Branson.

We dodged a bullet here in the Brazos Valley, but this is a sign that springtime storms are beginning to gear up and we will be ready here at KAGS-HD to keep you ahead of the weather.

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