00:00Guy, right now what we are looking at is just the overall risk area for the greatest potential of tornadoes that we are tracking here as we head into this evening.
00:09So for this evening, kind of break down for us, for this area, this risk area specifically, what are all the ingredients that are there to produce this high potential for tornadoes?
00:20Yep, good afternoon, everybody. You know, it's our typical almost summertime pattern type setup to where we've got nice steamy conditions.
00:31So we've had a lot of moisture move into this particular area of Illinois, Indiana over the last and southern Michigan over the last couple of days.
00:39We've also had a higher influx of heat the last couple of days as well.
00:43And so you put that ingredients together along with the main shortwave or piece of energy that's ejecting currently over northern Missouri on northeast into Illinois.
00:55And that's adding that extra turn to the atmosphere and to the wind specifically as far as helping to get some of these tornadoes to spin up in the situations in which we've got them so far.
01:06All right, guys, so as we continue to look at this greatest tornado risk graphic, what whenever we look at the types of tornadoes that we're primarily going to be tracking here as we head throughout this afternoon and into this evening,
01:17are we tracking more of the threat of those isolated supercell long track thunderstorms, tornado producing thunderstorms, or is this going to be more of the QLCS line, squall line of tornado producing storms that we're tracking as we head into tonight?
01:36Yeah, just like you were talking about there, the second piece is the answer to that question.
01:41We already have our main line of storms that's developed from northeastern Illinois back through western Indiana and on south.
01:48And so as this line of storms continues to move east and northeast through the evening hours, it will typically be those quick spin ups that we'll see along this line.
01:57Not everybody will have the chance to potentially see a tornado, but there will be some areas along that area along the main line itself.
02:04And then also on the backside of this, closer to the piece of the upper level, you know, information or energy that I was talking about there, that upper level piece, there's actually a little bit more of a turning of a wind there.
02:17So we've actually seen a couple quick spin up tornadoes as well across central Illinois so far today.
02:23And so as this area continues to move northeast over the next couple hours as well, there will be that opportunity for maybe another couple quick spin ups there.
02:33We're not looking anything from a long track type tornado and nothing really for the most part of a long destructive type tornado situation.
02:42All right, guys, so you were talking about these quick spin ups.
02:46Now, I normally, you know, QLCS is kind of a mouthful, so I normally call those tornadoes 30 second tornadoes.
02:51So kind of break down to our viewers why those specific types of tornadoes are so dangerous, because what a lot of folks don't realize is that a radar going 360 degrees around can take two or three minutes to do that full completion.
03:03Well, for some of these QLCS tornadoes, that's their entire life cycle.
03:08So for some of those QLCS tornadoes, they can happen in between radar images, and that makes them extra dangerous.
03:14So explain to us why that can be, you know, very hazardous to people in those warned areas.
03:23Yeah, you know, it's one of those situations where it is very quick.
03:26You know, the life cycle of it, as you talked about there, is very quick.
03:29It spins up real quick and just as quickly can dissipate.
03:33And so, you know, when you actually talk about tornado formation and all the specific ingredients, the different wind directions that you need, you know, a lot of times it takes a lot for that to all come together just right.
03:45So if you can imagine, as we're seeing the line of storms moving towards the east and the northeast, you have little sort of showers and maybe additional thunderstorms out ahead of it that get drawn into the line.
03:56And sometimes that's just enough, then, that provides that extra rotation.
04:00But as it progresses a little bit long, the winds start to become a little bit more outflow dominant to where now the wind direction is all messed up.
04:08And then it starts to kill, you know, the, you know, the tornado itself and how it's moving and all the specific wind direction it needed in order to form is now all gone.
04:18And so they are very quick to spin up.
04:20So anytime you get a warning like that, you want to be reacting immediately to it as it could be on your doorstep at any time.
04:29Absolutely. Great information right there.
04:31We really appreciate it.
04:32That is AccuWeather severe weather expert Guy Pearson from Wichita, from our Wichita office.
