Tornado Watch 861

Issued

Oct 7, 2011, 6:33 PM CDT (23:33 UTC)

Expired

Oct 8, 2011, 2:00 AM CDT

In force

7 hr

Issued by

the Storm Prediction Center

Largest hail expected

2 in

Strongest gust expected

60 kt

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 137 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:34 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

30%

One or more gusts of 65 knots or more

30%

Ten or more severe hail reports

40%

One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more

30%

Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports

80%

• Mesoscale Discussion 2232Oct 7, 6:00 PM CDT
• Mesoscale Discussion 2235Oct 7, 10:25 PM CDT
• Mesoscale Discussion 2238Oct 8, 12:55 AM CDT

453 
WWUS20 KWNS 072334
SEL1
SPC WW 072334
COZ000-KSZ000-NEZ000-OKZ000-TXZ000-080700-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 861
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
635 PM CDT FRI OCT 7 2011

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

       EXTREME SOUTHEAST COLORADO
       WESTERN KANSAS
       EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA
       THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE
       THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING FROM 635 PM
UNTIL 200 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 50 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 75 MILES NORTHEAST OF GOODLAND
KANSAS TO 40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF AMARILLO TEXAS.  FOR A COMPLETE
DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

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.

DISCUSSION...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP
THROUGH THE EVENING ALONG A RETREATING DRYLINE FROM THE TX PANHANDLE
NWD INTO WRN KS.  THE ENVIRONMENT INITIALLY FAVORS SUPERCELLS WITH
LARGE HAIL/DAMAGING WINDS...BUT AN INCREASE IN LOW-LEVEL SHEAR AND
MOISTURE THIS EVENING WILL PROMOTE A RISK FOR A COUPLE OF TORNADOES.
THE CONVECTION WILL LIKELY REMAIN IN A RELATIVELY NARROW NNE-SSW
ORIENTED BAND THROUGH EARLY TONIGHT...WITH ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT
EXPECTED LATER TONIGHT AS A COLD FRONT OVERTAKES THE DRYLINE AND A
STRONG SHORTWAVE TROUGH EJECTS NNEWD OVER NM.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 21035.


...THOMPSON

Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2011Tornado Watches in Texas, 2011Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 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.