7 November 2011

Earthquakes Saturday and Tornadoes on Monday- Wild Times in Oklahoma!

Posted by Dan Satterfield

 

Tornado near Tipton, Ok, on Monday afternoon. Ctsy. NWS Norman.

Another shot of the twister from near Tipton,OK. today. Courtesy metr. Terran Kirksey who was following it.

What’s going on in Oklahoma?? The biggest quake in Sooner state history hit on Saturday (I was video chatting with my daughter on our iPhone’s as it happened). Today, I get a call from a friend, (who is a fellow meteorologist) and he’s chasing a tornado near Snyder, Oklahoma! Tornadoes in November are rare anywhere. Especially so in Oklahoma!

Now you know why so many meteorologists come from Oklahoma. I’m sooner born and sooner bred, and when I die, I’ll be sooner dead… 😉

Added note: The two main ingredients for tornadoes are wind shear and instability. The instability is moderately strong today in Oklahoma, but the low level wind shear is very conducive to tornadoes. The big tornadoes (like April 27) tend to have high levels of both shear and instability, but twisters can (and do) form with high levels of one ingredient, and just enough of the other.