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Texas, Oklahoma Under Threat of Tornadoes as Severe Weather Moves Through Central US

A large region in the southern part of the United States was threatened by severe weather, including tornadoes.

People in parts of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana all remained at risk of stormy conditions Friday afternoon and throughout Friday night. These stormy conditions included fierce winds, hail and tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.

Around 10 million people combined in those states were placed under a tornado watch by the weather service. The service also issued a flash flood threat across some parts of northeast Texas. Also included in the flood watch was southeast Oklahoma and western Arkansas. 

In Arkansas, some college homecoming events were canceled because of the storms. High school football games were delayed due to the threat of severe weather.

Storms across the southern Plains could ignite thunderstorms that could then turn into tornados, according to Accuweather. 

“All thunderstorm hazards will be possible, including an isolated tornado or two, large hail as well as damaging straight line thunderstorm wind damage,” University of Texas meteorology lecturer Troy Kimmel told the Austin-American Statesman.

The storms could also trigger power outages and potentially cause property damage. However, in some extreme instances, they could pose some risk to lives, according to Accuweather.

Footage of Massive ‘Landspout’ Tornado in Colorado Resurfaces

Although landspout tornadoes aren’t the most powerful type of tornado, one approaching in the distance would still prove to be a menacing sight to see. Landspout tornadoes are thin vortexes stretching up into the clouds. This naturally occurring phenomenon resembles a waterspout, hence the name. However, it takes place on dry land, where it can pull debris and condensation toward the sky.

Generally, a landspout lasts for less than fifteen minutes. However, depending upon where the landspout tornado occurs, the damage can be significant. Some of these storms have been recorded to reach the strength of an F3 of F4 tornado on rare occasions.

Colorado’s eastern plains present ripe conditions for these landspout tornadoes to happen often. It’s one part of the country where the conditions can be right for these storms to form on a relatively regular basis.

The video of the landspout tornado can be seen here. This one reportedly took place north of Denver in June 2021, and the footage reveals exactly how ominous these storms can look and how deadly they can be.

Twitter users took to the comments to voice their opinions on the video. Some clarified the differences between landspout and common tornadoes. “Landspout tornadoes are caused by rotating air near the surface while regular ones are caused by rotating air from a thunderstorm,” one user wrote.

“I would be terrified to film this,” another user said. Another one wrote: “Wonders of the earth.”