Arctic Air Mass Lingers for Areas of the East; Critical Fire Weather for the Plains; Active Weather Pattern for Hawaii

Arctic air lingers for the east, however, winds will slowly subside and a slow moderating trend starts during the week. Moisture continues to provide rainfall and higher elevation snow for the Pacific Northwest, northern California and northern Rockies through Monday. For the State of Hawaii, dangerous surf conditions with strong winds and heavy rainfall will impact the islands through Monday. Read More >

Microburst Impacts Amarillo on April 16

A preliminary National Weather Service survey determined that a very localized microburst, packing winds between 65 and 70 mph, was responsible for some damage across southeast sections of Amarillo during the late afternoon hours of Monday, April 16. A microburst is a downdraft (sinking air) in a shower or thunderstorm that is less than 2.5 miles in scale. Some microbursts can pose a threat to life and property, but all microbursts pose a significant threat to aviation. Although microbursts are not as widely recognized as tornadoes, they can cause comparable, and in some cases, worse damage than some tornadoes produce. In fact, wind speeds as high as 150 mph are possible in extreme microburst cases. We would like to thank the Amarillo/Potter/Randall Office of Emergency Management for sending two of the damage images below.

RADAR IMAGES