Supercell at Night, Tornado Sirens & Lightning Barrage in SW Oklahoma, April 28, 2025

On April 28, 2025, the Storm Prediction Center issued a Day 1 Enhanced Risk (level 3 of 5) for Severe Weather in SW Oklahoma. At the surface, a weak cold front and dryline advanced into the region from the west by late afternoon. Meanwhile, a large positively tilted trough was over the southwestern US with mid-level winds of over 60 kts over Oklahoma. While forcing was sufficient for a few supercells, the low-level wind profiles initially favored left turning, or anti-cyclonic supercells. These tend to occur when low-level winds are rather weak just above the surface.

Unsurprisingly, cells in the afternoon split with the cyclonic right movers struggling to organize. However, I decided to wait on a second cluster of initially unorganized storms forming west of Snyder OK after sunset. This gamble ended up paying off as the low-level jet strengthened out of the south after sunset. This feature is common in the spring in OK, particularly at night, and can often make the low-level wind profiles more favorable for cyclonic, right turning supercells.

As the low-level jet kicked in, a cyclonic supercell managed to evolve out of the initially unorganized area of convection. This cell developed strong mid-level rotation and soon began producing very frequent and dangerous clear air lightning under and ahead of the updraft region. While the storm did become tornado warned, there were no confirmed tornadoes with this cell. However, the storm structure illuminated by constant lightning made for great time lapses and slow motion video. The large mesocyclone and updraft are also visible toward the end of the video, particularly during the slow motion strikes. (Excuse the shaky video toward the end as I didn't have my camera rig set up well while driving).

Soundtrack: Glacial Melting Point by Asher Fulero