TEXAS – Over the weekend, a potent early spring storm system churning over the Four Corners brought everything from blizzard conditions to a severe weather outbreak from Wyoming down to Texas.
The storm system was a classic setup for severe weather because of its position and timing. Whenever we head into spring, the river of air high in the atmosphere (known as the jet stream) begins to shift farther south. Storm systems ride along the jet stream, and as it shifts south, ingredients become available for strong and severe storms.
Ingredients such as warm, moist air at the surface from the Gulf of Mexico, that typically is absent earlier in the year when we’re in winter, was bountiful this weekend in the Texas Panhandle.
Over the weekend, a potent early spring storm system churning over the Four Corners brought everything from blizzard conditions to a severe weather outbreak from Wyoming down to Texas.
The storm system was a classic setup for severe weather because of its position and timing. Whenever we head into spring, the river of air high in the atmosphere (known as the jet stream) begins to shift farther south. Storm systems ride along the jet stream, and as it shifts south, ingredients become available for strong and severe storms.
Ingredients such as warm, moist air at the surface from the Gulf of Mexico, that typically is absent earlier in the year when we’re in winter, was bountiful this weekend in the Texas Panhandle.
Another ingredient needed for severe weather, wind shear, also has to do with the position of the storm. Whenever areas of low pressure are centered over the Desert Southwest, the upper level flow around them is counterclockwise, which causes southwest winds aloft for areas ahead of it. These southwest winds aloft met with the southeast winds at the surface, causing rising air to rotate.
As this storm system moved out of the Desert Southwest, it caused the lift needed for storms to ignite. The slow movement of this system caused severe weather outbreaks not just Friday, but Saturday as well.
A preliminary report for Friday and Saturday included a total of 10 tornadoes over the span of the two days. This includes a rare event where twin tornadoes (an EF-1 and EF-2) were on the ground at the same time just outside of Happy, Texas. Damages to structures and powerlines are being surveyed, but thankfully there have been little injuries and no fatalities.
Additionally, part of the survey from the National Weather Service in Amarillo does include a EF-Unknown. This happens because in order to categorize a tornado, the EF (Enhanced Fujita) scale relies on damage surveys. If a tornado is in a remote area where there is nothing to damage, then the intensity of the winds cannot be determined.
