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NEW
INFORMATION CONCERNING THE MARCH 28TH TORNADO OUTBREAK HAS BEEN
POSTED - CLICK
HERE TO JUMP TO THAT PAGE.
Severe weather season is in full swing. The panhandles have already
exceeded their normal number of tornadoes in a year. This past event
on Saturday April 21st, pushed the total tornadoes for the year
past 20! Storm surveys and the final assesment for this past event
have not yet been completed, but we do have preliminary estimates
of around 8 tornadoes from the 21st.
If you viewed the storm information from the March
28th, 2007 event, then you may recognize the image on the right.
As it turns out, a nearly identical pattern was in place on March
28th when the previous tornado outbreak occured. The one majoy difference
between the two events is that on April 21st, the moisture content
was not quite as high. This could be the reason that fewer and les
intense tornadoes developed on the 21st. As mentioned above though,
damage surveys are not yet complete. So EF ratings are not yet known.
Preliminary estimates put the strongest tornado in the EF 2 range.
Please click here to read the
Public Information Statement concerning the preliminary estimates
on tornado strength - this PNS was updated on Monday April 23d!!!
Also, if you happen to have photos of the actual tornadoes or other
damage, please send them to John.Brost@noaa.gov and I will put them
on this site (with your permission of course). Please indicate what
I should look for ans where the images are located. Thank you. |
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| Click the image
to enlarge. |
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So this situation was very
similar to March 28th, 2007. A large upper level low pressure system
(cut-off low) was positioned over Arizona providing Southerly flow
in the upper levels. This is why the general storm motion was from
south to north. Although there was an easterly component to the
winds so the storm did track slowly to the east. Southeasterly winds
near the surface were pumping moisture into the panhandles. The
dryline was positioned along the Texas/New Mexico border, and a
pacific cold front was pushing through Eastern New Mexico. The other
significant difference between this event and March 28th was that
most of the storms with this past event formed along the dryline.
On March 28th however, short wave energy triggered storms well east
of the dryline. Both situations were set up for tornadic activity
though. In fact, the tornadic potential was highlighted 2 days prior
on Thursday April, 19th! And what was the result?
Large tornadoes in parts of the panhandle! This picture was taken
near Cactus at the Swift Beef processing plant. The photo is actually
a still image from the Swift Plants security cameras. (Image courtesy
of Mr. Raymond Brady - the image does not enlarge). |
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| As always,
we here at the National Weather Service extend our condolences to
those who were injured or lost porperty during the recent events.
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| Here
are just a few of the damage photos from the recent tornadoes. You
may notice a few vehicles in the images. Hopefully you will recognize
from these pictures why a vehicle is NOT a safe place to be in a
tornado. |
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| This is a collection of pictures
from around the panhandles. Some images were taken near Wildorado,
others near Claude, and the most photos are from Southern Randall
County. The damage in Southern Randall county was caused by a tornado
with a preliminarily estimated to be an EF 1 with wind speeds near
90 to 109 mph. |
These imges were taken in and near Cactus,
Texas. There are almost 50 pictures because a lot of damage occurred.
This tornado was preliminarily estimated to be an EF 2 with wind speeds
of 110 to 137 mph. |
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| These are aerial photographs
taken of the damage in and near Cactus. The photographer and pilot
is Mr. Scott Plischke - Information Technology Officer and Meteorologist
with the NWS here in Amarillo. |
These images are from the damage near Channing,
Texas. This tornado was preliminarily estimated to be an EF 1 with
winds speeds near 90 to 109 mph. |
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Here are a few pictures from the tornado
near Channing. Notice the small rope tornado that developes horizontally
away from the main tornado. This is called a satellite tornado or
the entire system is called a multi vortex tornado (meaning more than
one tornado occuring at the same time). These images are courtesy
of Mr. Gene Rhoden. This tornado was rated as an EF 1. |
These are damage photos from the tornado
that moved through Carson county. Once again, it is imprtant to point
out just how dangerous vehicles of ANY size can be in a tornado. These
pieces of large and heavy farm equipment were tossed about and heavily
damaged. The tornado that caused this damage was rated as an EF 2.
The photos are courtesy of Mr. Tony Treadwell from the Booker Fire
Deptartment. |
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These images were taken in rural Gray county
of the damage from one of the tornadoes that struck near Groom. The
three tornadoes that occured near Groom were rated as EF 0, EF 1,
and EF 2. These images are also courtesy of Mr. Treadwell from the
Booker Fire Department. |
These three photos are from the tornado
the hit near Dumas, Texas. It was rated as a high end EF 1. The tornado
occurred late in the evening during heavy rain and so the lack of
light will explain the dark images. Look closely and you will see
the tornado in the middle of the 2 darker images. The image above
is of the wall cloud prior to the tornadoes developing. The images
are courtesy of Mr. Robert Hayes who was chasing this storm. |
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These images are from the tornado near
Channing that moved into Cactus. The pictures are actually still
images captured from a video taken by Mr. Alan Gwyn who is a meteorologist
with the KFDA-TV news team
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These pictures are additional
damage photos from the tornado that hit Carson and Gray counties near
Groom. They were taken by WCM Steve Drillette and Intern Chris Kimble
of the NWS here in Amarillo. |
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| Storm chasers Jonathan Yuhas (KARE TV Minneapolis),
Chandler Heath and David Glaser took photos of a tornado, wall cloud
and funnels from a storm near Bushland TX just west of the city of
Amarillo. |
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www.weather.gov 
National Weather Service Forecast Office
