Tornado Watch 348

Issued

May 23, 2011, 5:24 PM CDT (22:24 UTC)

Expired

May 23, 2011, 9:42 PM CDT

In force

4 hr

Issued by

the Storm Prediction Center

Largest hail expected

2.5 in

Strongest gust expected

70 kt

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:26 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

Two or more tornadoes

50%

One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes

20%

Ten or more severe wind reports

70%

One or more gusts of 65 knots or more

40%

Ten or more severe hail reports

70%

One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more

40%

Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports

95%

• Mesoscale Discussion 904May 23, 5:07 PM CDT
• Mesoscale Discussion 915May 23, 9:22 PM CDT

490 
WWUS20 KWNS 232224
SEL8
SPC WW 232224
ARZ000-OKZ000-240500-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 348
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
525 PM CDT MON MAY 23 2011

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

       A SMALL PART OF WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
       NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON FROM 525 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 95 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF
BARTLESVILLE OKLAHOMA TO 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MCALESTER
OKLAHOMA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU8).

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 340...WW 341...WW
342...WW 343...WW 344...WW 345...WW 346...WW 347...

DISCUSSION...MASS OF CONVECTION WITH EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS OVER N
CENTRAL OK WILL CONTINUE TO EXPAND OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS...WITH
MULTIPLE STORM MERGERS AND UPSCALE GROWTH LIKELY THIS EVENING.
INITIALLY...THE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A COUPLE OF
TORNADOES AND ISOLATED VERY LARGE HAIL.  LATER THIS
EVENING...MCS/BOW ECHO FORMATION WILL BE POSSIBLE AS STORMS RIDE
ESEWD ALONG A STALLED OUTFLOW BOUNDARY ACROSS E/NE OK INTO WRN AR.
DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE AN INCREASING CONCERN...THOUGH A COUPLE OF
TORNADOES WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE AS STORMS INTERACT WITH THE OUTFLOW
BOUNDARY.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 29035.


...THOMPSON

Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2011Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2011Every tornado watch in 2011

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.