STATUS: IOP Watch
Some of the researchers are gathering in Huntsville AL to participate in a Media Day tomorrow. It will be fun to share some of the complexities, goals, and challenges of VORTEX-SE.
The Huntsville area is in SPC’s Slight Risk outlook tomorrow. This situation still looks marginal for any tornado activity, but hail and damaging wind looks more likely. Some of the researchers are going to check out their equipment, logistics, communications, etc. if storms move into the area tomorrow.
We are still watching the weekend. Not much has changed in the forecast… it appears a strong upper wave and attendant cold front will move through the VORTEX-SE observing domain. The resultant weather depends, as always, on a lot of details that won’t become apparent until late in the week, and maybe not even until we do the analyses of our data with 20/20 hindsight. But as things stand now, an IOP is looking more likely every day.
And by late in the week, we will possibly be dealing with the idea that this first IOP could possibly involve two or more episodes of potentially tornadic weather.