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The NWS has changed the risk level to ELEVATED for severe thunderstorms and LIMITED risk for tornadoes. It still looks like much of the severe weather will be SE of Tulsa County, although sustained rains through today could potentially cause flooding in the NE area, including Tulsa. Live Chase will, most likely, activate after 1:00 PM.

I started reviewing model data at 4:30 this morning (yawn), this one is going to be hard to predict. Last night I was ready to chalk today off. But now, warnings are beginning to be issued for the area. I'm not sure if the thunderstorms being tracked now are LATE getting here or EARLY.

If things keep building like they are, I'll probably go ACTIVE in a couple of hours. I'm still thinking the blunt of the storms will be after noon, but it's just a big ole guess at this point. It looks like heavy rain, hail and wind will be the biggest threat through the morning hours. The supercells and tornadic activity will probably begin this afternoon as the heating begins.

So far, this is pretty disappointing. A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect east of Tulsa. Steady rains continue throughout the area. Hopefully more happens this afternoon!

I'm finally in a Tornado watch box...Atoka, Oklahoma. Of course, something will probably happen in Tulsa now. LOL Gas here is 3.59 a gallon...took 75 bucks to fill up.

I think I'm going to grab some dinner here, since the tracked storms are to the SE of me now, moving (what seems like) very slowly to the NE.

Oh, the weather, it's humid, unstable air, cloudy, but no rain yet. Which is good, I drove in rain my first 2 hours on the road.

We'll see what happens. I'm in a good location right now, since I can move just about any direction to get to the action.

I'll check back in later...if you guys are concerned.

I posted, but apparently I didn't! So, at the risk of being redundant, I'll ask again:

Is that you at the bottom of the tracking map? You are a long way from home, it appears.

Here comes the ugly weather too.

Looks like we're getting tornado warnings here in Tulsa. They're reporting a possible tornado west of Bixby.....nothing confirmed yet.

make your way back north...you may just get lucky!!

It's headed right for me over here at 81st and Memorial. They are saying on KTUL that there was a tornado rain-wrapped in downtown Bixby. I'm keeping an eye on it.

Hey Mike....go stand outside and let me know when it gets there! Don't forget to pull your pant legs up!!!

Yes, I'm way south...just North of Hugo. Heading back to Tulsa now. 280 miles and counting. Should be back by about 10. Looks like the storms in your area turned into a squall line, and not much behind it.

Okay...I'm joining the convoy of chasers heading back. I'll write more at the next stop.

Stay safe!

Okay...last report in for now. I stopped at McD's to get something to drink and munch on. Nothing more is happening tonight, so I'm just kinda enjoying the drive home. Nice night. Hope you all survived the rain today...got quite a bit.

Okay...I'm ready to hit the highway, yet, once again. Thanks for tracking me. It's nice to know someone out there notices where I'm at.

later!

Edie didn't like the closet at all, but she minded me anyway and we had fake candlelight ambiance. I was in my hall closet 3 x tonight, listening to the t.v., scared, confused. You were being fairly calm and providing fairly calming news. So, what was with all the sirens tonight... true danger or maybe a drill during the storm? You have the best weather source in the area so what is a squall and why was I sent to the closet?

Well, it's better to be safe than sorry. If a tornado warning was issued, then a tornado was either detected by radar, reported by a trained spotter, or both - detected by radar and confirmed by a spotter or visa-versa. Regardless of "who you know", when a tornado warning is issued, you should take necessary cover. So, tell Edie to get a grip.

A Squall Line is a series of thunderstorms (usually severe) formed into a thin line, creating what appears to be one very large storm. Squall lines can be hundreds of miles in length. If you look closely at a radar image of a squall line, you can see the individual storms, all joined together. There's a pic of a radar image in the diary that I captured during my chase on 5/1. In that particular image, the radar detected a tornado just south of Muskogee. In general terms, squall lines typically preceed a cold front and usually create a "bow echo", an indication of very strong winds. Squall lines can produce heavy rain, hail, strong straightline winds, microbursts and torndaoes. Basically, a squall line can be a very large and dangerous storm.

Hope that helps.