From: National Weather Service, Fort Worth
Date: Thu, 02 August 2010 12:03 -0500

Thunderstorms are expected to continue to develop this afternoon and tonight across North Texas, and a few storms may become severe mainly tonight. The area at risk from strong winds and hail up to around one inch in diameter is north of a Comanche to Dallas to Paris line. Within this area, the greatest coverage of thunderstorms and highest probabilities for severe weather is north of a line from Breckenridge to Sherman. In addition, the the potential exists for locally heavy rainfall possible with any storm in North Texas this afternoon and tonight.

Overview and timing...Thunderstorms overnight and this morning continue across areas of North Texas, and cooler temperatures and cloud cover have temporarily stabilized the atmosphere in areas near the DFW Metroplex. To the northwest, east and southeast of the Metroplex however, sunshine is resulting in an unstable air mass. Scattered thunderstorms will continue developing this afternoon across much North Texas, but the more widespread coverage will develop closer to midnight tonight across northern counties as a cold front drops southward from Oklahoma. The combination of instability and modest vertical wind shear will result in a threat for damaging winds...heavy rainfall and hail around an inch in diameter.

Looking ahead to the upcoming Labor Day Weekend, dry conditions with seasonable temperatures are expected.

Confidence is high in thunderstorm development this afternoon and tonight, but pinpointing the specific areas at greatest risk is difficult due to the widespread clouds and cooler temperatures currently in place from overnight storms. We will keep our web page updated with the latest information, and please don't hesitate to call for additional information or support. Here are some convenient links to our web services:

Effective on or before Wednesday, September 30, 2010, the NWS will be adding a new flood inundation map to the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, AHPS, web portal. This map will provide information for Elm Fork of the Trinity River in Northwest Dallas County.

Winter 2010 - In This issue

• Meteorologists Provide Weather Support
• January Tornadoes
• Dr. Weather's Wisdom
• March 28, 2000: 10th Anniversary
• Observer Awards

The Texas Thunderbolt - Spotter Newsletter is published from the NWS Preparedness and Storm Spotter Information page.

Feb. 9, 1870: Feds Get on Top of the Weather

1870: President Ulysses S. Grant signs a bill creating what we now call the National Weather Service. Forecasting models were simple but generally effective.

It had been obvious for centuries that weather in North America generally moves from west to east, or southwest to northeast. But other than looking upwind, that knowledge was little help in predicting the weather until you could move weather reports downwind faster than the weather itself was moving.

The telegraph finally made that possible. The Smithsonian Institution in 1849 began supplying weather instruments to telegraph companies. Volunteer observers submitted observations to the Smithsonian, which tracked the movement of storms across the country. Several states soon established their own weather services to gather data.

Full Story

Tom Warner documents the powerful beauty of lightning with an array of optical and electromagnetic sensors. He often uses a Vision Research ‘Phantom’ high-speed camera.

Warner is a Ph.D student at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, in Rapid City. He studies atmospheric sciences with a specialty in lightning research. “Lightning is one of nature’s most spectacular phenomena,” says Warner. “I want to understand how lightning behaves.”

Full Story

The North Texas SKYWARN™ Spotter Training Schedule for 2010 has been published. Be sure to check the schedule often for updates and additions.

Spotters and volunteers should check the following information regularly during possible severe weather for updated information.

• Emergency Manager Briefing Information
• Fort Worth NWS
• Storm Prediction Center
  • Overview
  • Convective Outlooks
  • Current Convective Watches
  • Current Mesoscale Discussions
  • Severe Weather Event Summaries
  • Mesoscale Analysis
  • Fire Weather Forecasts
  • National Weather Hazards