As per the SPC Day 4 outlook, the potential for severe thunderstorms exists in areas of the eastern Plains Saturday aft. and into the evening hours.

A trough developing over the Rockies will progress sewd into the mid-MS valley. At the surface, robust moisture return will flow northward ahead of the trough from OK-KS. Steep lapse rates will likely reside over the region Saturday, and modest shear will enhance the possibility for supercells over the region.

Skywatch7 will be arriving in Kansas City, MO Saturday afternoon to monitor developments as they occur.

As many as 34 tornadoes touched down in the southeast, with deadly consequences. The hardest hit region was in southwest MO, where 10 fatalities were reported from tornadoes north and northeast of Racine, MO.

Skywatch7 arrived in MO in the early evening hours, and was not able to make any intercept attempts. It was reported that the tornadic storms were moving at extreme speeds of 60 mph or greater. This, in conjunction with difficult chase terrain (road networks) made intercepts extremely difficult for those in favorable positions.

Skywatch7 is currently on standby in Oklahoma City, ready for possible severe weather conditions in west central Oklahoma on Tuesday. On Sunday we surveyed damage from the long-track EF4 tornado at Racine, MO. Photos of the survey will be posted shortly.

Skywatch7 was positioned just northwest of Oklahoma City, just ahead of the dryline and along a wind shift boundary during passage of Tuesday’s trough and associated cold front. Although timing and location seemed to be right, lacklustre wind shear resulted in lack of supercells, with any convection being mostly linear in nature.

Positioning of the trough didn’t lend itself to severe thunderstorm and supercell development. The trough was positively tilted (oriented NE to SW), and winds were blowing mostly parallel to the front. With an established NW flow regimen currently in place, there is little chance of any significant weather event on the Plains for at least the next four or five days.

No still pictures or videos were collected of severe weather, but we did collect some hail on the windshield.

Following inspection of the damage path that extended through Racine, MO, the National Weather Service has concluded that a single long-track tornado of EF4 strength developed in northeast Oklahoma and moved northeastward.

The tornado flattened nearly 20 blocks of the town of Picher, OK before moving into Newton County, MO where its winds reportedly threw automobiles as far as 1/2 mile. —SEE PHOTOS–>

Skywatch7 will be departing the Watertown, SD area this morning and proceeding to areas in NW Kansas. An intense low pressure system has stalled over the area, and copious moisture from the Gulf of Mexico has surged into the area overnight. Deep layer shear values should produce high helicity; these conditions, coupled with steepening lapse rates and increasing instability with maximum daytime heating, should produce supercells capable of producing tornadoes late this aft.

During an outbreak of severe weather and tornadoes across much of west central Kansas Friday afternoon, Skywatch7 intercepted a tornadic supercell in Lane County, KS. The storm produced a large tornado just after 4:30 PM that tracked through several counties, and was spotted by chasers near Wauneta, KS.

A DOW (Doppler on Wheels) unit, operated by Joshua Wurman of the Center for Severe Weather Research, performed multiple scans of the supercell’s core region to determine if there was ongoing tornado production. Although the TIV (Tornado Intercept Vehicle) was also tracking this storm, no intercept of a tornado was attempted. –SEE PHOTOS–>