Monday, May 7, 2012

Severe Weather Discussion: Ohio Valley, 4:00 PM CDT (5/7)

Radar returns and atmospheric conditions continue to indicate severe weather is forming and will be ongoing through the rest of the afternoon. This activity will be confined to the areas within the red box, as these areas are experiencing the highest instability and associated severe weather potential.

Latest indications show high temperatures and dewpoints covering the whole of the Ohio Valley, but the highest of both in the red box. Instability at the surface accumulates to a fair 2000-3000 units of instability- more than enough to fuel strong storm cells. There is a next to nothing tornado threat per latest observations, and lack of high wind shearing should keep it that way. However, I am seeing small pockets of fair wind shear, which may lead to a brief spin-up at the most.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Andrew, do you know how to read crossover charts? I can't find squat. If you do, what is the rule of thumb? What angles should each pair of barbs be at to catch interest? Are they good for indicating possible shear? Thanks

Andrew said...

I can't say I have the gist of them either, but I would say different wind speeds and fairly different directions in both barbs will indicate a good environment for some rotation.