National Weather Service Issues Tornado Watch For Central & North Texas Til 9pm

The National Weather Service, up in Norman, Oklahoma, has issued a Tornado Watch for Central and North Texas. We are supposed to be on the lookout for Tornadoes until 9pm.

Along with Tornadoes, the National Weather Service is predicting Gusts to 70 mph and Hail 4 inches in diameter. Along with Dangerous Lightning.

In National Weather Service-speak a Tornado Watch means conditions are favorable for Tornadoes and Severe Thunderstorms and persons in the Watch areas should be on the lookout for threatening weather conditions.

Right now, at 3 in the afternoon, I am looking at a few clouds and some blue sky, at my location in far East Fort Worth.

I strongly suspect that no matter how eagle-eyed a lookout I keep I will not be seeing any 4 inch hail today. Or hear the Tornado sirens.

A Potential Texas Tornado Storm Brews While I Slip On A Fort Worth Mudslide

Something wicked this way comes. A big storm is brewing. It is heading in from the northwest. By that I mean northwest relative to my location, not the location from whence I moved over a decade ago.

The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Alert. Wind gusts to 60, with 2 inch hail. The conditions are such that tornadoes can form from rotating supercells.

I love weather talk. The view in the picture is looking northwest at the incoming storm, after I got back here a little after 5.

On the way back here, after a late in the afternoon hiking on the Tandy Hills, I heard the radio alert about the incoming storm. And mention made of the fact that in a couple days it will be a decade since the killer tornado that struck downtown Fort Worth.

That was my first tornado storm. I lived in the town of Haslet at the time, at the north end of Fort Worth. I was heading to meet up with someone at UNT in West Fort Worth. Ahead I saw an eerie wall of greenish gray clouds. I did not realize at the time I was looking at the wall of clouds that produced the tornado.

I got a call from the person I was heading towards meeting, telling me she was stuck in a basement, due to a tornado. I retreated to my domicile, which was soon to be struck by a barrage of the biggest hail I've ever seen. Between the thunder and that hail it was about the noisiest thing I've ever heard.

Oh, about the mudslide. Hiking the Tandy Hills today I parked by the tower at the top of Tandy Mountain. This put me on trails I'd not been on since the recent deluge. I was heading down a trail and took a grassy detour, due to the trail being muddy. Suddenly I slipped and went sliding down the hill for a short distance.

This covered the entire back of me with mud, and my right arm and hand. I was a mess. Which is ironic, because just hours before, my therapist, Dr. L.C., emailed me saying, simply, "You're a mess." She is very psychic that way. Although her timing is often off.

I don't believe there will be any bruises or aches from this latest mishap.

Now it's time to batten down the hatches and prepare for losing power. By hatches I mean shut the windows.

First National Weather Service Tornado Alert For North Texas Of The New Year

My mom called me while I was on the way to the library to tell me she'd mailed me something to my P.O. Box. She also told me they'd had a good rainstorm in Phoenix with a much bigger one on its way, which my baby brother had driven through on his way back to Phoenix from San Diego.

I told mom all I've got happening, here, is some big drops hitting the windshield.

And then I got back here to find WeatherBug chirping with the National Weather Service's first Tornado Alert of the new year for North Texas. It sounds like this might be a BIG one. Hail 2 inches in diameter, Thunderstorm wind gusts to 70 mph. Heavy duty Lightning. And I suppose a chance of flash flooding.

I should alert the Haltom City creek monitor about fresh incoming, but I don't want to alarm her. She's had a rough enough week already.

Below is the National Weather Service Tornado Alert for North Texas....

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 10:00PM CST
Sel2
spc Ww 202157

Urgent - Immediate Broadcast Requested
Tornado Watch Number 2
Nws Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
355 PM CST Wed Jan 20 2010

The Nws Storm Prediction Center Has Issued A Tornado Watch For Portions Of Extreme Southwest Arkansas South Central And Southeast Oklahoma North Central And Northeast Texas

Effective This Wednesday Afternoon And Evening From 355 PM Until 1000 PM CST.

Tornadoes, Hail To 2 Inches In Diameter, Thunderstorm Wind Gusts To 70 Mph, And Dangerous Lightning Are Possible In These Areas.

The Tornado Watch Area Is Approximately Along And 80 Statute Miles North And South Of A Line From 40 Miles West Northwest Of Fort Worth Texas To 10 Miles South Of Texarkana Arkansas. For A Complete Depiction Of The Watch See The Associated Watch Outline Update

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.

Discussion, Thunderstorms Are Expected To Develop And Intensify Across Part Of North Central TX/South Central OK Along Warm Front In Response To Increasing Dynamic Forcing For Ascent Associated With Strong Upper Trough Approaching From The West. Relatively Steep Lapse Rates Above Moist Pbl Are Contributing To Unstable Environment With Mlcape Of 1000-1500 J/Kg. Effective Bulk Shear Currently In The 35-45 Kt Range Is Supportive Of Supercell Development, And Low Lcl Heights And Sufficient Low Level Shear/Srh Will Enhance Threat For A Few Tornadoes With Discrete Cells That Form.

Aviation, Tornadoes And A Few Severe Thunderstorms With Hail Surface And Aloft To 2 Inches. Extreme Turbulence And Surface Wind Gusts To 60 Knots. A Few Cumulonimbi With Maximum Tops To 450. Mean Storm Motion Vector 25035.