The previous liveblog can be found here.
Dangerous, tornadic thunderstorms are continuing to roar across the Midwest this afternoon as residents of Moore Oklahoma continue to clean up from the massive, mile-wide wedge tornado that tore through the city earlier this afternoon. The damage is at least EF-4 intensity, with some possibly reaching EF-5. The tornado took almost the same track as the devastating F5 tornado that went through Moore in May of 1999.
Several schools were hit by the tornado, with children reportedly trapped and injured. 11-15 city blocks worth of neighborhoods and businesses are completely leveled.
There are many, many fatalities. Authorities are calling it "a chaos of bodies."
There are multiple tornado warnings in effect, but due to the volume of stuff going on right now, I'm only going to post the most hazardous storms that threaten larger population centers.
I will post some of the more urgent updates to my Facebook feed.
UPDATE 8 -- 718PM CT:
Medical examiner reports 37 confirmed fatalities. This doesn't include the dozens upon dozens who are missing and presumed dead.
UPDATE 7 -- 712PM CT:
Incredible infrared satellite image of the tornado-producing supercells this afternoon, from meteorologist Stu Ostro on Facebook.
UPDATE 6 -- 701PM CT:
Here's the "Safe and Well" list maintained by the American Red Cross, a list that helps the missing let their families know that they're okay.
UPDATE 5 -- 652PM CT:
Tornado warning for extreme northwestern Arkansas, just west of Fayetteville and southwest of Bentonville. Rotation is weak but still there.
UPDATE 4 -- 640PM CT:
KFOR reports more than 24 children killed at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore.
UPDATE 3 -- 638PM CT:
Tornado warning for Joplin and localities to its south.
UPDATE 2 -- 625PM CT
Also, there are exaggerations going around right now. This wasn't the "biggest, most destructive tornado in history." There have been bigger and worse tornadoes. Granted, lots of people died and this was probably an EF-5, but there have been worse. TheTri-State Tornado of 1925 was horrific, as was Joplin back in May 2011.
UPDATE 1 -- 614PM CT:
I don't have much more information at this time. Reports are conflicting on how many people are dead and injured. The damage is very reminiscent of the tornado that went through Joplin, MO exactly two years ago this Wednesday.
Rescue crews are still trying to find victims in the rubble. Rubble is piled up 5-10 feet deep in some places. Your best bet right now is to watch News9 and KFOR from Oklahoma City. Each are running live streams of their broadcasts. The Weather Channel, for as much as they suck, are also live on the scene doing pretty good coverage of the recovery efforts.
If you want to help, please help through an organization like The American Red Cross. DO NOT go to Newcastle/Moore/Southern OKC to try to help rescuers with the cleanup and search. Rescuers thank you for wanting to help, but people flooding the area will just add to the chaos. Plus, rubble is unstable, there are gas leaks, and you could hurt yourself only adding strain to the already stretched-thin resources.
If you're missing someone in the area, text, don't call. Cell phone networks are jammed, and texts are much easier to get through than a call during heavy use like this.
INITIAL UPDATE -- 538PM CT:
Tornado watches are still in effect for everyone in the red outlined area.
Here are images of the tornado and tornado damage from Moore, OK a few hours ago:
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National Weather Service Main Page
National Weather Service -- Central Oklahoma
National Weather Service -- Tulsa OK
National Weather Service -- Springfield MO
National Weather Service -- St. Louis MO
National Weather Service -- Kansas City MO
National Weather Service -- Arkansas (whole state)
Storm Prediction Center Main Page
Storm Prediction Center -- Current Severe Weather Watches
Storm Prediction Center -- Convective (Severe Weather) Outlooks
Storm Prediction Center -- Mesoscale Discussions
Storm Prediction Center -- Storm Reports
Storm Prediction Center -- Mesoscale Analysis Pages
Wunderground's Detailed Radar (click the + nearest to you to see your local radar)
NOAA Weather Models
TwisterData.com's excellent GFS/NAM/RAP model website.
ChaserTV-- live streaming video from storm chasers.
News9 in Oklahoma City provides extremely thorough severe weather coverage. This is Gary England's station -- the pioneers of on-screen weather warnings and chasing tornadoes with helicopters. Their efforts, along with those of storm chasers, have saved thousands of lives.
I'll continuously post updates to my Facebook page on this and most other major severe weather outbreaks.