STORM2K

Several warnings in the Tx Panhandle right now...

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 293
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
330 PM CDT WED MAY 23 2007

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

SOUTHWEST KANSAS
NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA
TEXAS PANHANDLE

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 330 PM UNTIL
1100 PM CDT.

...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...

DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER...
THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 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 35 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF
DODGE CITY KANSAS TO 50 MILES SOUTHEAST OF AMARILLO TEXAS. FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).

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...CONTINUE...WW 290...WW 291...WW 292...

DISCUSSION...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS PARTS OF SOUTHWEST KS AND THE TX
PANHANDLE... SPREADING EASTWARD INTO NORTHWEST OK. AIR MASS OVER
THIS REGION IS BECOMING VERY UNSTABLE AS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE SPREADS
NORTHWESTWARD BENEATH EXTREMELY STEEP LOW/MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES.
INCREASING VERTICAL SHEAR PROFILES THROUGH THE EVENING WILL PROMOTE
SUPERCELL STORMS CAPABLE OF VERY LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND
STRONG TORNADOES.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 4 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. | — Motorists were likely to confront barricades in much of Kansas Thursday after torrential thunderstorms swamped already saturated ground and raised some streams out of their banks.
From Garden City in the southwest to Belleville in the north-central region near Nebraska, waves of violent, slow-moving storms on Wednesday dropped several inches of rain while pelting the countryside with large hail.

Reno County and other central Kansas counties recorded the heaviest amounts — as much as 2 inches of rain an hour, with 7 inches recorded at Hutchinson by 8 p.m.

No injuries or property damage were immediately reported, but many motorists had to be helped from their cars as water several inches deep washed over city streets. The American Red Cross opened a shelter at a Hutchinson church for people needing a dry place to spend the night.

A levee protecting the rural eastern part of the Reno County from the Arkansas River broke in several places during heavy rain in early May, and inspectors were taking their first look Wednesday at the breaks and considering how to repair them.
To the north in McPherson County, emergency management officials closed all county roads in the southern half of the county and advised motorists to stay out of the area.
As the storms spread northward late Wednesday, flash flooding was reported on many roads in the city of Ellsworth.
And in Republic County, water ran 8 to 10 inches deep along streets in South Belleville, stalling out several cars.

The same storm system also spawned brief tornadoes in southwest Kansas. Touchdowns were reported near Kinsley and Centerview in Edwards County around 6:40pm and just east of Syracuse in Hamilton County on the Colorado border around 7:51pm.