Severe Weather Outbreak Possible Saturday
by Cody Matz
April 13, 2012 6:55 PM
Here we go…. Looks like Saturday could be the first severe weather outbreak of the season for our area. The storm that affected our area Friday is moving to our northeast allowing an even stronger area of low pressure to develop in northeast Colorado. This low will launch a warm front northward, which will end up in our area by the afternoon hours bringing with it plenty of moisture and instability. Now there is still some uncertainty in how far north this front progresses, but the further north it moves, the greater the chances for severe weather. So Saturday may start with a few isolated storms that roll north through the morning, these are not the ones of concern. The storms that could bring the severe weather will develop in parts of Nebraska during the afternoon and move northeastward late in the day and through the evening. These are the storms that could bring very large hail (up to baseball size), damaging winds in excess of 80mph, and large long track tornadoes. Even though these long track tornadoes are of concern and a strong possibility for some parts of the country Saturday, they often occur with plenty of warning and can give residents time to take shelter. But with an event like tomorrow, the more likely scenario for our neck of the woods would be quick spin up tornadoes located inside of a line of storms or a cluster of storms. These types of twisters are very hard to see by storm chasers because are often obscured by rain AND can be very hard to detect quickly enough on radar, delaying the time it takes for a warning to be issued and sirens to sound. So your safest move tomorrow is to stay informed of the weather via internet, television, radio, or weather radio. Have a plan ready of what to do when severe weather strikes because with a potential large outbreak possible, seconds may save your life. For more information about the impending storm, check out the Web Weather Video on the KDLT Weather Page. Stay safe!!
