Severe Storm Outlook Narrative (AC)
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Issued by NWS
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228 ACUS01 KWNS 202000 SWODY1 SPC AC 201959 Day 1 Convective Outlook NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 0159 PM CST Thu Nov 20 2025 Valid 202000Z - 211200Z ...THERE IS A MARGINAL RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS TO ARKANSAS... ...SUMMARY... Isolated strong to severe thunderstorms may occur today into this evening across the southern Plains into Arkansas. Large hail, damaging winds, and a tornado or two all appear possible. ...20Z Update... No changes were made with this update. An upgrade to Slight Risk was considered for parts of south-central into north-central TX ahead of the northeast/southwest-oriented band of storms. Here, diurnal heating has allowed temperatures to climb into the upper 70s to lower 80s amid middle/upper 60s dewpoints -- resulting in a moderately unstable warm sector. While this instability and around 50 kt of effective shear will conditionally favor embedded supercell structures, current thinking is that deep-layer southwesterly flow/shear parallel to the larger-scale cold pool will result in undercutting and training of storms. Therefore, held off on an upgrade at this time. Nevertheless, damaging gusts, sporadic large hail, and perhaps a tornado or two will all be possible with any longer-lived storms -- especially any that can form immediately ahead of the convective band and related cold pool. ..Weinman.. 11/20/2025 .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1031 AM CST Thu Nov 20 2025/ ...Southern Plains to Arkansas... Showers/thunderstorms remain common at late morning with widespread cloud cover with the warm sector across most of Texas and Oklahoma. This precedes a mid/upper-level trough currently located over Arizona/New Mexico and far northern Mexico, which will continue to eject northeastward toward the southern High Plains. A surface low will gradually deepen across the south-central High Plains and develop eastward through the period. It still seems likely that convection and widespread cloud cover will persist through the day, resulting in generally modest diurnal heating and weakening mid-level lapse rates with time. While enhanced deep-layer shear will remain across the warm sector owing to persistent strong southwesterly mid-level flow, the potential for organized thunderstorms downstream or in the wake of ongoing morning convection remains uncertain, particularly in the context of somewhat stronger low-level winds more likely to interface where convective overturning has occurred. Regardless, some potential for isolated supercells and/or organized multicell clusters will exist this afternoon/evening particularly across portions of central and possibly into parts of North/northeast Texas. This includes isolated severe hail and damaging winds, and a modest enlargement of low-level hodographs could also support a tornado risk. Farther west, some high-resolution guidance continues to show the development of additional strong/locally severe storms across east/southeast New Mexico into west Texas/southwest Oklahoma, in closer proximity to the ejecting upper trough. This convection could pose a threat of strong gusts and perhaps some hail, but it remains uncertain as to whether sufficient instability will develop to support anything beyond a very isolated/marginal-type severe risk. $$