Firsthand Weather

This is an emergency post regarding the major tornado outbreak expected for the Southeastern US  today: A strong surface low is currently located over the lower Great Lakes and is expected to strengthen as it moves northeast. As the day progresses,  500 mb winds are expected to increase to over 130 knots from the central Appalachians to the mid-Atlantic states. Along with incredible high wind speeds at the 500 mb level, a 850 mb jet with winds from 50 to 70 knots is expected to be located over the piedmont of the Carolina’s to the Mid-Atlantic states. Things are setting up for a very dangerous tornado otubreak for later today, and with this setup, there could be large and long-track tornadoes particularly in the eastern Carolinas and up to Virginia. Locations surrounding these areas also need to be on the lookout.

Highest Probability of Tornadoes Today

With us only being in February, it is amazing to me to see this kind of a setup in the winter months, but with the perfect ingredients in place, it is a classic tornado outbreak setup. There will be plenty of instability to support thunderstorm development, and with the wind shear being off-the-charts like it is today, this could be an incredibly dangerous event as we progress later into the day. Storms are already rotating with some of these storms, but what is scary is the fact that the conditions are going to become much more favorable for tornadic development later today. Also, storms will have the potential to produce incredible high wind gusts so if you’re not under a tornado warning, you still could see major damage from these storms.

GFS 500 mb winds later today

850 mb winds expected later today

These areas typically do not see this magnitude of a tornado outbreak that I am expecting, and the most favorable time for tornado development is going to be later towards the evening when it is getting dark. I can’t stress enough how dangerous of event this is shaping up to be so I urge you to make adequate plans now. We’ll keep you all updated on Firsthand Weather, and be sure to follow us on the Firsthand Weather Facebook page, where I’ll be doing continuous updates on this very dangerous event.