SYNOPSIS FOR: 04/09/94 - VORTEX-94
A strong wind max , pushing southeast from the Pacific NW, was carving
out a significant trof over the southwest U.S. The negative tilt trof was
beginning to develop a closed center over Nevada by evening. Shortwave
energy, moving through the mean trof, began to move out over the Plains
during the day. A first shortwave triggered early morning convection over
KS and northern OK. The KS portion of the convection, north of an east-
west frontal boundary, continued all during the day. During the day, a
surface cyclone deepened over the northern TX Panhandle and a strong
dryline developed southward . Large amounts of low-level moisture moved
northward from TX and mid-60s dew points covered the central 1/3 of OK
by early afternoon. A second shortwave approached the cyclone area from
NM by early afternoon. This wave was associated with a significant
tropospheric jet streak that ran from AMA to east of DDC by evening (>
100 kt at 300 mb). To the south of the jet streak (in the warm sector of the
cyclone) a strong mid-level cap developed. As the dryline accelerated
eastward into western OK and the triple point moved into northwest OK,
convection formed along the warm front as it retreated northward into
southern KS. Some of the early convection formed to the northwest of the
surface low where moisture was being advected westward. The first
tornadic storm/supercell, and the one that produced the most destructive
tornadoes, formed near LBL and moved to SE of DDC, and eventually to
near ICT. Two other tornadic storms/supercells formed northeast of the
triple point and moved easxtward to southeast of ICT., just north of the
warm front. Significant deep convection failed to form along the dryline
during the daylight hours because of the strength of the capping inversion.
The shortwave/jet streak ,passing by to the north, failed to provide the
lifting that would have been necessary to break the cap over OK.
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