413  
ACUS01 KWNS 110543  
SWODY1  
SPC AC 110542  
 
DAY 1 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK  
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK  
1242 AM CDT SAT APR 11 2026  
 
VALID 111200Z - 121200Z  
 
...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS PORTIONS OF  
THE SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS...  
   
..SUMMARY
 
 
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING HAIL AND STRONG WIND GUSTS WILL BE  
POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON  
AND EVENING. MORE ISOLATED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE  
EXPECTED ACROSS PARTS OF THE CENTRAL ROCKIES, CENTRAL PLAINS, UPPER  
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, AND PORTIONS OF THE CALIFORNIA COAST.  
   
..SYNOPSIS
 
 
AN UPPER TROUGH IS EVIDENT IN EARLY-MORNING WATER-VAPOR IMAGERY OFF  
THE CALIFORNIA COAST. THIS WAVE WILL GRADUALLY DE-AMPLIFY OVER THE  
NEXT 24 HOURS AS IT PROGRESSES NORTHEASTWARD INTO THE NORTHERN  
ROCKIES. FURTHER SOUTH, A LOWER-AMPLITUDE UPPER DISTURBANCE IS NOTED  
OFF THE COAST OF BAJA CA, AND WILL MIGRATE NORTHEAST INTO SOUTHWEST  
TX THROUGH THIS EVENING. AHEAD OF THESE FEATURES, MODEST LEE  
TROUGHING ALONG THE HIGH PLAINS AND THE SOUTHEASTWARD SHIFT OF  
SURFACE HIGH FROM THE MIDWEST INTO THE UPPER OH VALLEY WILL YIELD AN  
EXTENDED FETCH OF SOUTHERLY LOW-LEVEL FLOW FROM THE TX COAST INTO  
THE UPPER MS VALLEY, RESULTING IN NORTHWARD MOISTURE RETURN AS WELL  
AS A BROAD ZONE OF ISENTROPIC ASCENT FROM THE PLAINS INTO THE UPPER  
MS VALLEY.  
   
..SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS
 
 
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT APPEARS LIKELY BY MID-AFTERNOON ACROSS  
SOUTHWEST TX AS ASCENT ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER DISTURBANCE OFF THE  
COAST OF BAJA CA MIGRATES OUT OF NORTHERN MEXICO AND OVERSPREADS  
RETURNING MOISTURE. INITIALLY DISCRETE CELLS ARE LIKELY AND WILL  
POSE A THREAT FOR LARGE HAIL GIVEN ADEQUATE DEEP-LAYER WIND SHEAR.  
HOWEVER, WEAK CAPPING AND STRONG ASCENT SHOULD PROMOTE UPSCALE  
GROWTH BY EARLY EVENING INTO ONE OR MORE CONVECTIVE LINES. AS THIS  
TRANSITION OCCURS, STRONG TO SEVERE WIND GUSTS WILL BECOME THE  
PREDOMINANT HAZARD, THOUGH AN EMBEDDED CIRCULATION OR TWO MAY BE  
POSSIBLE. BASED ON LATEST GUIDANCE, THE WIND/TORNADO THREAT MAY BE  
MAXIMIZED ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE I-20 CORRIDOR WHERE THE SIGNAL FOR  
CLUSTERING/BANDING IS GREATEST IN LATEST CAM AND ENSEMBLE GUIDANCE.  
   
..CENTRAL PLAINS TO THE UPPER MS VALLEY
 
 
LOW-LEVEL WARM AIR ADVECTION WILL LIKELY BECOME INCREASINGLY FOCUSED  
THROUGH THE DAY AND INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS  
INTO THE UPPER MS VALLEY. 850 MB WINDS ARE FORECAST TO STRENGTHEN TO  
40-50 KNOTS BY THIS EVENING AND WILL SUPPORT STEADY MOISTENING IN  
THE LOWEST 1-2 KM UNDER A PLUME OF 7-7.5 C/KM MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES.  
FORECAST SOUNDINGS SUGGEST THAT THIS ENVIRONMENT WILL BE WEAKLY  
CAPPED AND SHOULD SUPPORT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DURING  
THE AFTERNOON HOURS ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS BEFORE  
SPREADING/RE-DEVELOPING NORTHEASTWARD INTO THE UPPER MS VALLEY LATE  
TONIGHT. WHILE DEEP-LAYER WIND SHEAR WILL NOT BE OVERLY STRONG  
(AROUND 30 KNOTS), IT SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR A FEW TRANSIENT  
ORGANIZED CELLS CAPABLE OF LARGE HAIL.  
 
A MORE CONDITIONAL SUPERCELL THREAT MAY MATERIALIZE ACROSS PORTIONS  
OF THE LOWER MO VALLEY WHERE SOME CAM GUIDANCE DEPICTS CONVECTION  
DEVELOPING LATE AFTERNOON ALONG THE SURFACE WARM FRONT. FORECAST  
SOUNDINGS FROM THIS REGION SUGGEST A WEAKLY CAPPED, BUT MODERATELY  
BUOYANT AND STRONGLY SHEARED ENVIRONMENT MAY BE IN PLACE THAT COULD  
SUPPORT A WELL-ORGANIZED SUPERCELL. HOWEVER, POOR ENSEMBLE CONSENSUS  
LIMITS CONFIDENCE IN THIS SCENARIO.  
   
..CENTRAL TO NORTHERN ROCKIES
 
 
00Z RAOBS FROM THE GREAT BASIN/FOUR CORNERS REGION SAMPLED STEEP  
MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES WITH MODEST MID-LEVEL MOISTURE. WHILE FAIRLY  
DRY, THIS ENVIRONMENT WAS SUFFICIENT FOR CONVECTION YESTERDAY AND  
WILL LIKELY SUPPORT ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE CENTRAL TO  
NORTHERN ROCKIES THIS AFTERNOON AS DIURNAL HEATING ERODES INHIBITION  
AND MAXIMIZES SURFACE-BASED BUOYANCY. ASCENT AHEAD OF THE DECAYING  
UPPER WAVE WILL LIKELY SUPPORT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS,  
AND A COMBINATION OF MODEST DEEP-LAYER WIND SHEAR AND DEEP,  
WELL-MIXED BOUNDARY LAYERS WILL PROMOTE STRONG TO SEVERE DOWNBURST  
WINDS. A FAIRLY STRONG WIND SIGNAL IN LATEST HREF GUIDANCE  
CO-LOCATED WITH TRANSIENT UH STREAKS LENT ENOUGH CONFIDENCE TO  
EXPAND 5% WIND PROBABILITIES NORTHWESTWARD TO ADDRESS THIS CONCERN.  
   
..CA COAST
 
 
A PROGRESSIVE UPPER WAVE WILL MOVE INTO NORTHERN CA LATE THIS  
AFTERNOON INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. AS THIS OCCURS, ASCENT WITHIN  
THE LEFT-EXIT REGION OF AN ATTENDANT UPPER JET, COUPLED WITH COOL  
MID-LEVEL TEMPERATURES NEAR THE CENTER OF THE UPPER LOW, SHOULD  
SUPPORT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHERN CA. WINDS WITHIN THE  
LOWEST 1-2 KM SHOULD INCREASE TO AROUND 40 KNOTS AS THE WAVE MOVES  
ONSHORE, WHICH MAY BE AUGMENTED BY CONVECTIVE DOWNDRAFTS TO YIELD A  
FEW DAMAGING GUSTS ALONG THE COAST.  
 
..MOORE/HALBERT.. 04/11/2026  
 

 
 
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PREVIOUS BULLETINS.

The Nexlab SPC Page Main Text Page