Storm chaser Aaron Jayjack reported live from Oklahoma as severe storm cells emerged across the central U.S. on the evening of April 1.
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00:00Our first severe cell of the day is on the move, and here is the current look.
00:05So, Aaron, I know you're driving right now, or at least you're in a moving vehicle.
00:10What are you seeing out there?
00:12Yeah, Jeff, so you mentioned that severe-worn storm, the first one of the day, and that's
00:18the top of it.
00:19You're looking at it right now.
00:20I just went through Kingfisher, Oklahoma.
00:22I'm moving north.
00:24This storm is severe-worn.
00:25Like you mentioned, likely producing hail, severe winds, 60 miles per hour, plus gusts.
00:31And a little bit further down the line, I see, the dry line, I see some additional development.
00:35So it looks like we do have, obviously, convective initiation has begun here in Oklahoma.
00:41These storms will pose a risk for all hazards, that hail you mentioned, strong damaging winds,
00:46and possibly tornadoes.
00:47We have a strong shear in place here at the surface, the moisture has elevated, the sun
00:52has continued to bake the environment here, and things do look conducive for that severe
00:56weather tonight here in Oklahoma, even up into Kansas, and further to the south, down
01:02in Texas.
01:03So I'm probably about 20 minutes away from being right underneath this storm, just to
01:07the north.
01:08We're going through a little town here now.
01:09I'm not sure what the town is here, but it is north of Kingfisher, Oklahoma, and we'll
01:13be under that storm shortly.
01:15Back to you guys.
01:17Chaser Aaron J. Jack, we appreciate that report there.
01:19With one lone cell so far, but we knew that there would just be a couple of isolated cells
01:25that would really get going quickly, and this is going to crack out some hail and wind,
01:28lots of lightning as well.
01:29Yeah, let's take you now to Wichita, Kansas, where we're going to talk more about what's
01:33to come with this severe threat, because here in Wichita, we are not seeing the severe type
01:39of weather that we're seeing in the area of Oklahoma that we were just highlighting.
01:44That's right.
01:45That's going to be going eventually here as well, and beginning to see some lightning
01:49up into parts of northern and west-central Kansas as well, amid some cells that are pretty
01:54innocuous looking overall, but there is some pretty good vertical movement within these
01:58vertical motion, and even a couple of these gusty, wind-swept downpours are producing
02:04a little bit of lightning as well, north and western parts of Kansas for now.
02:07But currently, our lone severe cell is right over Enid, Oklahoma, and it's bringing some
02:12nasty wind and hail, and you can see that the storm is racing to the east-northeast
02:17right over Enid.
02:18So Garfield County, severe thunderstorm warning until 6.30 central time, officially is leaving
02:23eastern major county.
02:24The risk really is Enid and points northeast.
02:26So look out in southeastern Grant County, it's coming your way, Billings in northwestern
02:30Noble County, Garber, you're going to be clipped by this storm, but the greater risk here is
02:34going to be, again, just racing northeast and moving into an area of eventually the
02:40southeastern section of Grant County is going to be up next, perhaps clipping a little bit
02:43of Noble County with this severe thunderstorm warning for north-central Oklahoma.
02:47Our first cell of the day, that is a pretty gusty one with some hail potential as well.
02:53It's a small-scale storm, but look at the lightning, just a sign of the health of the
02:56storm and the way that the updrafts are really getting going.
02:58Switching over to the visible satellite loop, you can see that these bubbly clouds here
03:02are the ones that are producing a little bit more in the way of convection.
03:06We're seeing a similar environment here, kind of on the edge of the dry line into western
03:09Kansas.
03:10The dry line is more pronounced farther east, where it's almost like a front separating
03:13some really dry air from some tropical air off to the east.
03:18So back to radar, just a quick look there, again, not much popping yet elsewhere, but
03:22we're getting ready for more trouble into Oklahoma and into Kansas and beyond.
03:27So we're facing what will become a pretty big threat here for, again, a risk through
03:32the overnight hours and into the day tomorrow, and Anna's going to be talking more about
03:36the extended forecast, but some more details on the current setup here this evening and
03:40tonight.
03:41Here's your risk area, looking at north Texas through Oklahoma, the eastern half, borderline
03:47two-thirds of Kansas, southeastern parts of Nebraska, and much of western Missouri.
03:52So big cities like Tulsa, Wichita, Oklahoma City, and areas around the Tulsa area, I mentioned
03:59Oklahoma City, Kansas City, and Wichita, all facing a significant risk of damaging wind
04:04and hail.
04:05So there will be big gaps on the radar between these first few isolated cells, and you can
04:09see that really, really dark purple, almost kind of like a grayish-blue color, that's
04:14where the winds are going to be really strong, just a fierce wind gusting over 70 miles per
04:19hour a mile up into the sky, so it's a mile up, but that's going to be fueling some of
04:23these overnight thunderstorms in the southern plains.
04:25So here we go, and again, the first few storms are on the map now into parts of Kansas and
04:30Oklahoma, one bona fide severe cell so far, but the risk is there for Tulsa to face isolated,
04:37intense, gusty thunderstorms with hail and wind through the overnight hours, and up into
04:41the Kansas City metro here, kind of a similar setup, initially it's pretty spotty, but as
04:45we get deep into the night, you can see the radar kind of fills in, storms really pop
04:49over the area near Manhattan, Kansas, St. Joseph, Missouri, and wind and hail will be
04:53our main issues there too.
04:55So again, these storms pooling northeast pretty rapidly, widespread to the north, spotty but
05:00still intense to the south, and this is a setup here for some more trouble tomorrow
05:04when things really, really get going as this warm front pushes north after a chilly, wet
05:09night in Chicago, tomorrow begins to look very different up there.