May 2: Success yesterday & a look at today!

We’ve got a bit to talk about today. There’s a level 3/5 (enhanced) risk for severe storms today across much of the US. First, we’re taking a look at yesterday!

A severe storm developed quickly west of Killeen, Texas in the afternoon. About an hour later, the storm began showing signs of producing a tornado. This tornado took its time spinning up, leaving everyone on edge with a very large, spinning wall cloud almost right over town for several minutes.

If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like right before a tornado, watch the clip below. We’re zoomed in tight and you can see every detail. Notice the rapid, strong rotation approaching the ground. Next time you see this, hide.

Take a look at the zoomed-in view of this rope out stage.

That tornado died, but another came just minutes later!

The time-lapse below is from RDD-5, which was positioned on a road sign. We thought this tornado would directly hit the device, but it changed path and moved a little to the right, missing it.

The next photo is really cool… we’ve got a screen shot of the photo actually being taken, with the tornado in view from the vehicle as well as RDD-5.

Large tornado as it was approaching the location that RDD-5 was deployed. It was coming directly towards us at this moment.

A photo of the photo being taken.

Tornado transitioning from a large cone shape to a huge rope. The funnel extended way up into the cloud base.

Now, On To Today!

The risk for severe storms extends from Texas/Mexico to Ohio and West Virginia! Large hail and strong winds are possible anywhere in the risk zone, but we’re primarily interested in the Texas portion, where very large hail and strong supercell storms are likely. It looks like a pretty cut and dry forecast. Not really expecting any surprises, just considerable development with any storms that form.

We’re picking the area between Sonora and Austin, Texas, as the main area of interest. HRRR inside the RadarOmega app shows more messy, clustered storms near Austin and the I-35 area, but farther west individual supercells are possible, which means likely stronger storms, larger hail, and better sights to see!

After today, we finally get a day or two off! We’re going to start focusing on this area in Texas for Tuesday.