Tornado alerts to Texas and Oklahoma

Bursts of 60 MPH winds right now.

BBB

http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/?lat=37.88722229&lon=-97.51528168&zoom=8&pin=Bentley%2c%20KS&type=hyb&rad=1&wxsn=0&svr=0&cams=0&sat=0&riv=0&mm=0&hur=0

that doesn't work the way I posted it. but if you pan out, the radar is clean to the south right now.

big winds, but no tornadoes...

Tornadoes, Severe Weather Likely Saturday Across Nation's Midsection
April 13, 2012
by Mark Memmott - NPR

The darker areas are being warned about what's coming. They're where tornadoes could occur on Saturday and into Sunday.

Dangerously strong storms and tornadoes are possible Saturday and into Sunday from north central Texas up through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa and as far east as Wisconsin, the National Weather Services's Storm Prediction Center is warning.

And according to the prediction center, "this is only the second time a high risk has been issued for the ["day two"] forecast, and the first time ever it has been issued for the initial D2 outlook." That's how unusual and how serious the situation appears to be.

The Weather Channel has applied its "TOR: CON Index" to the forecasts and says that these area have "an above-average threat of ... severe thunderstorms with damaging winds, hail, and/or tornadoes" on Saturday and through the night into Sunday:

Iowa — across its southwest, northwest, central and northeast sections.

Kansas — across its central and southeast sections.

Minnesota — across its southwest, south and east-central sections.

Missouri — in its northwest corner.

Nebraska — from the southeast across the central section and to the northeast.

Oklahoma — from the west to the north-central section (not including the panhandle), and through the center of the state to the northeast.

South Dakota — in its southeast corner.

Texas — in the northwest, "near Wichita Falls," and across the central section west of Interstate-35.

Wisconsin — in the west-central section.

Update Saturday at 7:05 a.m. ET. Tornado Sirens In Okla.:

"Pre-dawn tornado sirens have sounded in Oklahoma City," The Associated Press reports. Reporter Kurt Gwartney of member station KGOU tells our Newscast unit that storms Friday evening spawned at least one tornado and caused at least 10 injuries across central Oklahoma.

Update Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ET. Three Possible Tornadoes:

The National Weather Service is working to confirm three tornadoes that were reported west and north of Oklahoma City Saturday morning, the AP says.

The storms reportedly damaged some homes, but the worst of the severe weather is still expected to hit later this afternoon.

"We're quite sure [Saturday] will be a very busy and dangerous day in terms of large tornadoes in parts of the central and southern plains," National Weather Service Spokesperson Chris Vaccaro told the AP. "The ingredients are coming together."

CURRANT MAP PHOTO:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/04/13/150578676/tornadoes-severe-weather-likely-saturday-across-nations-midsection

Yeah, we're expecting some thunderstorms this evening, but it looks like the possibility of tornados won't reach Tulsa 'til the middle of the night tonight.

after 4 was what they were saying last night.

the thinking was that by late night they would have moved north of here. and there...

got your sump pump fixed yet???

Be safe, darling.

BBB

Oh yes! The sump pump was completely replaced a couple of weeks ago. The basement has since had sheetrock replaced and has been repainted. Carpet for the finished section is to be delivered Monday and installed this week. Then there's office furniture. (sigh)

Yknow, BBB, as much as I've hated dealing with the flooding caused by the failed sump pump, it is nights like this one when I'm still glad I have a basement.

It's past 8 p.m. and we still haven't seen any rain. Radar is clear around here, but it's expected to change later tonight. It looks like there's a big storm cell up your way though, Rocky. So what's going on up there?

I believe this is the first day I've seen sleet and snow flurries in NM New Mexico. More or less clear skies at present, but still. . . .

The wind has slowed down quite a bit right now at 7 p.m. So glad because my trees took a real wind beating.

BBB

Just out of curiosity, Eva, had the sump pump frozen [not temperature frozen but rust/lack of use frozen] or did the motor fail?

The float mechanism broke, according to Hubby. They replaced just that, and it failed again 48 hours later. So we replaced the whole thing.

How deep did it get in your basement before it was noticed? Was it from normal groundwater sources or a major rain event?

4-6" ... probably a combination of normal groundwater and a lot of rain.

We use the basement every day. My office is down there. But we were out of town at the time. Which explains why nobody heard the alarm go off. We were just lucky the pet sitter stopped by to feed the cat and found it before it got even worse.

It's almost midnight here, and we still haven't gotten any rain at our house. I hope our luck will hold through the night. I'm going to bed. G'nite, all.....

your map shows you as being between two cells right now - lots of red on that map

yup.

been betwixt them all day so far...

my grass isn't even wet yet.

You must be having a good hair day?

it's waiting for me to fall asleep.

we will have one more big wave. prolly at least an hour away.

and I am getting sleepy. I just finished an all night drive-away.

Ima go out and watch the clouds for a while. the trees groaning against the side of the cabin gets old after a bit. but I'm glad I left them there...

(and honestly I'd rather them hit out here than in where gram is. she has no basement)

Crossing my fingers for you. You have my sympathy/empathy/telepathy. West coast of FL here has been spared the 'canes over the last few years. Hoping it continues.