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I've went ahead and moved to Alert mode in anticipation of severe weather this evening. Right now there's a cap over us, that could inhibit storm development. At this point we could end up with severe storms this evening into the overnight hours but the severity of those storms is somewhat questionable.

NWS has just upgraded the alert level to ELEVATED. Storms are expected to begin development late this afternoon with supercells west of Tulsa and the possibility of tornadoes.

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1250 PM CDT THU MAY 1 2008

ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-021000-
ADAIR OK-BENTON AR-CARROLL AR-CHEROKEE OK-CHOCTAW OK-CRAIG OK-
CRAWFORD AR-CREEK OK-DELAWARE OK-FRANKLIN AR-HASKELL OK-LATIMER OK-
LE FLORE OK-MADISON AR-MAYES OK-MCINTOSH OK-MUSKOGEE OK-NOWATA OK-
OKFUSKEE OK-OKMULGEE OK-OSAGE OK-OTTAWA OK-PAWNEE OK-PITTSBURG OK-
PUSHMATAHA OK-ROGERS OK-SEBASTIAN AR-SEQUOYAH OK-TULSA OK-WAGONER OK-
WASHINGTON OK-WASHINGTON AR-
1250 PM CDT THU MAY 1 2008

...SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND
OVERNIGHT...

THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS
MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.
TORNADO.
RISK...ELEVATED.
AREA...NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA.
ONSET...LATE AFTERNOON.

AREA AT GREATEST RISK...NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.
RISK...SIGNIFICANT.
AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
ONSET...LATE AFTERNOON FOR EASTERN OKLAHOMA...AROUND MIDNIGHT
ACROSS WESTERN ARKANSAS.

AREA AT GREATEST RISK...NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.

SIGNIFICANT WINDS.
RISK...ELEVATED.
AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
ONSET...ONGOING.

AREA AT GREATEST RISK...NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA.

DISCUSSION...
SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND EARLY EVENING ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA AS A DRYLINE MOVES INTO CENTRAL
OKLAHOMA. A STRONG CAP REMAINS OVER THE REGION EARLY THIS
AFTERNOON...THOUGH A SMALL WINDOW OF WEAKENING EARLY THIS EVENING
MAY BE ENOUGH FOR ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. BY LATE
AFTERNOON...CAPE VALUES IN EXCESS OF 2500 J/KG...SHEAR OF 35 TO 45
KTS...AND LAPSE RATES OF 7 TO 8 C/KM WILL BE IN PLACE ACROSS
CENTRAL AND EASTERN OKLAHOMA. THUNDERSTORMS THAT INITIATE IN THIS
ENVIRONMENT COULD QUICKLY DEVELOP INTO DISCRETE SUPERCELLS...WITH
LARGE DAMAGING HAIL AND STRONG WINDS THE GREATEST THREATS. THERE
WILL ALSO BE A POTENTIAL FOR TORNADOES...ESPECIALLY ACROSS
NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA...AS A SURFACE LOW REDEVELOPS OVER NORTHWEST
OKLAHOMA AND CAUSES THE SURFACE WINDS TO BACK. STRONG CURVING OF
THE LOW LEVEL HODOGRAPHS /YIELDING STORM RELATIVE HELICITIES
OVER 300 M2/S2/ WOULD ENHANCE THE TORNADIC POTENTIAL OF ANY
SUPERCELL THAT IS ABLE TO MOVE OFF THE DRYLINE. WHILE UNCERTAINTY
STILL REMAINS IN REGARDS TO STORM INITIATION ALONG THE
DRYLINE...ANY STORMS THAT DO FORM COULD PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT SEVERE
WEATHER.

GUSTY WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF
THE AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. LOCATIONS ACROSS
NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA WILL ALSO SEE OCCASIONAL GUSTS
TO AROUND 40 MPH...AND A WIND ADVISORY /OKCNPWTSA/ IS IN EFFECT FOR
THIS AREA UNTIL 7 PM.

AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES AND OVERTAKES THE DRYLINE LATER
TONIGHT...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS
SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA BEFORE BUILDING FURTHER
SOUTH ALONG THE COLD FRONT. THIS SQUALL LINE WILL THEN PROGRESS
EAST INTO NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS LATE TONIGHT.
DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE
SQUALL LINE...ALONG WITH AN ISOLATED THREAT FOR BRIEF TORNADOES
ALONG THE LEADING EDGE OF THE LINE.

SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED. EMERGENCY MANAGERS COULD REMAIN
ACTIVATED FROM LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS
AND SHOULD PLAN FOR STAFFING ACCORDINGLY.

Okay...the GPS keeps blinking on and off, so it might be hard to catch my location...but...be patient. I'm just south of the KS border now and once I cross, I'll head east a bit and wait to see what's up. Let me know if you guys see anything in the TUL area. Sorry Brett...no new video yet.

I'm in copan...confirmed tornado coming directly towards me. Going to find a place to go to if I need to. I'll upload the radar image later.

Stay safe!!! Catch a good twister!!!!

Did you get some great footage? Are you okay?

Yes...I'm safe. The storm cell I was on, dissipated before it got to me. Just some rain. Listening to the scanner, sounds like it did damage just SW of me in Osage county. I got a few good pics before the sun set of a cell I chased into Kansas. I'm watching the squall line now to see what it's going to do. Been a busy night for sure.

The purple triangle below is the tornado, the green triangle is me. It was really heading right for me!

I'm going to bed. Just call if I need to throw shoes from the closet and dive in! Stay safe, g'night.

Okay...looks like Tulsa is safe at this point. Sleep well.