Central Oklahoma is expecting severe weather today. In fact a large swath of the state is indicated in a "moderate risk" zone. Yesterday it was quite chilly, [in the 40s] with high moisture content in the air. It was also pretty chilly this morning. It's not even 10 AM, and it should still be chilly outside, but instead it is muggy, and warm, [already in the 60s--my thermometer reads 68 for outside in the shade] even though the sun has not broken through the clouds yet. And even if it had, there has not been enough time for the sun to heat the local atmosphere.
That tells me that there is an extremely warm air mass that has moved over the central part of the state, that feels positively saturated with moisture, literally like being in a steamy bathroom. The condensation on my storm doors looks like the door to a steam room. No precipitation is falling, no fog or mist is present.
The winds are calm for now, and it's hard to believe that later tonight, and for the next couple of nights, we will be facing freezing temperatures.
The change and the feel of the air is bizarre. If winds pick up, and the atmosphere heats up more, I worry about later today. Normally that stillness and moist air doesn't happen until right before a storm. Today, right now, given the sudden change in temperature, gives new meaning to the phrase, "Global Weirding," in my opinion.
Main Page for the National Weather Service
Oklahoma page of the NWS interactive Map, note hazards indicated, risk of baseball size hail, severe thunderstorms, some tornadoes possible due to the likelihood of fast moving supercell thunderstorms [40-50mph].
I would advise Okies to definitely keep one eye on the sky and the other on their local weather station. Storms expected to develop after 3 pm.
Hazardous Weather Outlook page for Oklahoma
LOCATION...
THE MODERATE RISK AREA INCLUDES LOCATIONS SOUTHEAST OF A HOLLIS TO
CHEROKEE OKLAHOMA LINE...AND INCLUDES THE OKLAHOMA CITY METRO AREA...
WICHITA FALLS...ENID...PONCA CITY...STILLWATER...ADA...ARDMORE...
AND DURANT. THE SLIGHT RISK AREA INCLUDES WOODWARD AND ALVA.
TIMING...
THE MOST LIKELY TIME FOR SUPERCELLS AND SIGNIFICANT SEVERE STORMS
WITH THE LARGEST HAIL AND GREATEST RISK FOR TORNADOES IS BETWEEN
3 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON AND 11 PM CDT TONIGHT IN THE MODERATE RISK AREA.
SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE ANYTIME BETWEEN 3 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON
AND 7 AM CDT THURSDAY.
IMPACTS...
HAIL TO THE SIZE OF BASEBALLS AND TORNADOES WILL BE THE MAIN HAZARDS
WITH SUPERCELLS IN THE MODERATE RISK AREA. DAMAGING WINDS UP TO 70
MPH ARE POSSIBLE AS WELL.
I would advise that folks make sure that they have charged their cell phones or other handheld devices, plan ahead about where you might seek shelter if you need to, and have a bug out bag ready. Last weekend we cleaned our storm shelter out, and yesterday we restocked it, and checked batteries and other items for use for today.
Heads up people!
Be Safe.
9:41 AM PT: This is interesting. Warm Front Causes Rapid Fogging.
http://newsok.com/... is what I saw this morning on my storms doors. It was like watching time lapsed photography-weird!
11:31 AM PT: A large portion of Oklahoma--all of central Oklahoma now in a Tornado Watch, from SW border with Texas, to NE border with KS and Ark MS