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May 19, 2011 Storm Potential

With the return of some better upper level flow at 250 mb with about a 70-90 kt jet and and 60-70 kt flow at 500 mb, storm potential should be increased as apposed to yesterday. Again it is still a little further to the west than ideal, but it much better than what May 18 had. The upper level low at 500 mb alos looks to eject a strong vorticity lobe out into west Kansas which should help things get organized also.

At the surface the low is looking to be sitting in the western portions of Kansas with the warm front sitting E - W just south of the I-70. In behind the front dew points look to be into the mid - high 60's. The dry line also looks to surge forward out of west Texas and the intersection of the warm front dry line should be the area of interest once again.

As the 850 low level jet begins to kick in at about 21Z in combination with sufficient dew points and forcing, the low level shear should be able to support supercells along the dry line. Surface based CAPE in the range of 2000 - 2500 J/kg is sufficient to provide the needed energy for thunderstorm development, with the CAP eroding by around 21Z. Soundings and hodogrpahs look to support this scenario and indicate that very large hail will also be a threat for tomorrow.

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