Tornado Watch 41

Issued

Feb 28, 2012, 8:10 PM CST (02:10 UTC)

Expired

Feb 29, 2012, 1:00 AM CST

In force

5 hr

Issued by

the Storm Prediction Center

Largest hail expected

1.5 in

Strongest gust expected

60 kt

The Wichita radar (KICT), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:09 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

40%

One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes

30%

Ten or more severe wind reports

30%

One or more gusts of 65 knots or more

30%

Ten or more severe hail reports

20%

One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more

20%

Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports

70%

• Mesoscale Discussion 168Feb 28, 5:15 PM CST
• Mesoscale Discussion 170Feb 28, 7:57 PM CST
• Mesoscale Discussion 173Feb 28, 9:47 PM CST
• Mesoscale Discussion 175Feb 28, 11:40 PM CST

348 
WWUS20 KWNS 290212
SEL1
SPC WW 290212
KSZ000-OKZ000-290700-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 41
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
810 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012

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

       EASTERN KANSAS
       NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 810 PM
UNTIL 100 AM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 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 70 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF
TOPEKA KANSAS TO 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CHANDLER OKLAHOMA.  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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 40. WATCH NUMBER 40 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 810
PM CST. CONTINUE...WW 39...

DISCUSSION...THE EARLIER DRYLINE SUPERCELLS IN S CENTRAL KS ARE NOW
APPROACHING NE KS...AND MAY PERSIST FOR ANOTHER COUPLE OF HOURS AS
THE LOW LEVELS MOISTEN FROM S TO N.  FARTHER W/SW...CONVECTION
CONTINUES TO INCREASE/BACKBUILD AS THE COLD FRONT OVERTAKES THE
DRYLINE AND THE MIDLEVEL TROUGH EJECTS ENEWD OVER KS.  ADDITIONAL
LOW-LEVEL MOISTENING ACROSS OK/SE KS WILL SUPPORT CONVECTION ROOTED
AT OR VERY NEAR THE SURFACE...IN AN ENVIRONMENT WITH EFFECTIVE SRH
OF 400-700 M2/S2.  THE QUASI-LINEAR CONVECTIVE MODE AND MODEST
INSTABILITY SUGGEST THAT THE HAIL RISK WILL BE TEMPERED
SOMEWHAT...BUT SEMI-DISCRETE CELLS IN THE LINE WILL POSE A RISK FOR
DAMAGING GUSTS AND PERHAPS A COUPLE OF TORNADOES.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27040.


...THOMPSON

Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2012Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2012Every tornado watch in 2012

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.