Severe Weather Update, 8:20 PM

If you have looked on the screen on KAIT, you have seen that part of Region 8 is under a Tornado Watch until 3:00 AM. I'm hoping the storms move through before then, but we need to stay prepared in case they don't. Here are the bullet points at 8:20 PM:

• The main threat is still straight-line winds.
• Hail is possible.
• The tornado threat is low, but still possible.
• You will likely see lighting north of you well before the storms arrive.

As the sun goes down, you will start to see lightning north of you. Typically, this is called "heat lightning". It has nothing to do with "heat", but is called that because it typically happens in the Summer. Let me explain. Right now, most of us have mostly clear skies overhead. North of us, the storms are buildings thousands of feet into the sky. For example, this is a look at the storm north of West Plains. Click to enlarge:

As you can see, it is building up to 60,000 feet! Just like it is easy to spot a tall person in a crowed room, it is easy to spot a tall storm when everyone has clear skies. Here is our skycam in Hardy, AR and you can see that storm:

As it gets darker, we will start seeing the lightning from these storms, well before they arrive. 

Stay tuned!

Ryan