4/21/2024 - 4/27/2024

Climate in the News:

Severe weather was prolific throughout the Southern to the Central Plains this past Saturday. All severe hazards were observed, but the most notable was the tornado outbreak. In Texas and Oklahoma, there were five confirmed tornadoes. The most destructive tornado out of this ripped through Sulphur, OK. The nocturnal tornado killed four and injured 100. The National Weather Service out of Norman has given this tornado a preliminary rating of an EF3.

Tornado damage in Sulphur, OK

Source: KOCO

Weather Synopsis:

Below is the surface analysis from this past Saturday. These storms fired off and in front of the dryline (a moisture barrier). Lift aided by a mid to upper-level trough helped these storms rise into the atmosphere. Additional conducive atmospheric variables also aided in these storms' ability to spin and produce tornadoes.

Surface analysis depicting a dryline in Western Texas and Oklahoma.

Source: WPC Surface Analysis at 1pm CST

Temperature:

Overall, April is when the Region starts to see consistently warmer temperatures. However, regular cold fronts are still common, bringing both rain chances and below-normal temperatures for a few days.

Graphic showing the average temperature across the Southern Region for April 21st - 27th

Graphic showing the mean temperature anomalies across the Southern Region for April 21st - 27th

The Southern Region experienced another week of warm temperatures as moisture returned quickly to the region at the beginning of the week. The more western portions of the Region favored temperatures slightly above normal, but moved farther east temperatures were near or slightly below normal. The highest departures were felt in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles and Western Oklahoma where temperatures were 5 to 7 degrees above normal. Overall average temperatures for the week ranged between 78 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, very similar to last week. Weekly average temperatures reached as high as 85 degrees in parts of the Rio Grande Valley.

Precipitation:

With the majority of the Region being in a humid subtropical climate, rainfall is common at any point of the year. During the spring months, storm systems are common throughout the south. During April severe storm probabilities are at their highest in Oklahoma and Northeast Texas.

Graphic showing the accumulated precipitation across the Southern Region for April 21st - 27th

Graphic showing the precipitation anomalies across the Southern Region for April 21st - 27th

The majority of precipitation occurred over the weekend. As early morning storms moved their way northeast, nearly 6 inches of rain fell in Kaufman County, TX according to a CoCoRaHS report. Then storms moved into Arkansas by Friday evening. Due to this about 2.5 inches of rain was observed in Central Arkansas on Friday. Saturday as storms developed along the dryline, slow storm motions led to flash flooding in North Central Texas and Oklahoma as storms grew upscale. Overall, looking at weekly rainfall accumulations for Arkansas were about 1.5 inches.

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