Strong Storms Aim For High Plains
April 26, 2012; 5:55 AM
Record-breaking heat across the southern Plains will clash with cool air moving over the northern Plains through early tonight, making an ideal setup for strong storms to ignite over the central and southern High Plains.
AccuWeather.com meteorologists believe that widely scattered showers and thunderstorms will develop along this battle zone beginning late in the day and persisting into the overnight hours.
A strong upper-level disturbance emerging from the Southwest will also aid in creating a volatile setup, as an increase in moisture surges northward into the High Plains ahead of this system.
Locations just to the east of Fort Collins and Denver southward into extreme northeastern New Mexico will be the first at risk for these severe thunderstorms. Those that could be in the path of one of these widely scattered thunderstorms include Amarillo, Texas, as well as towns and cities in extreme western Kansas and southwestern Nebraska.
The threats associated with these storms will be large hail and isolated damaging wind gusts. While there is a limited threat for twisters, an isolated tornado is not completely out of the question.
As the evening progresses, these storms will continue their prowl to the east into more of western Nebraska, western Kansas, western Oklahoma as well as the Texas Panhandle.
Cities including North Platte, Neb., and Dodge City, Kan., will be at risk after sunset.
As the upper-level storm ejects out of the central Rockies and into the central Plains tomorrow, the risk for severe storms will slide slightly to the east into eastern and central Kansas and Oklahoma.