INTENSE FOOTAGE OF YESTERDAY'S TORNADOES ACROSS OKLAHOMA! (credit: ABC and NBC News)

DISCUSSION: As a series of strong thunderstorms erupted across portions of the Central United States during the afternoon and evening hours yesterday, a few of the storms turned tornadic and deadly. In a relatively short period of time, a few severe thunderstorms encountered a region of increased vertical wind shear (i.e., wind direction and wind speed changing and increasing with height) which set the stage for tornadic thunderstorms to quickly develop. Unfortunately, one of the storms ripped through houses in the town of Wynnewood and induced 2 casualties. One of the most important aspects to any tornado event is to make sure you take adequate shelter (i.e., whether it is the most interior portion of your home and/or the lowest point in your home).  Sadly, in some situations neither this is virtually possible due to time or available refuge in reasonable proximity to a person's location. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families affected by these destructive storms which occurred across portions of Central and Eastern Oklahoma yesterday afternoon/evening.  For more on this and other high-impact weather across the United States, click here!