TULSA, Okla. — A new Tornado Watch has been issued for eastern Oklahoma, including Tulsa, along with extreme southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas. The watch remains in effect until 3 a.m. Tuesday, November 3. Damaging winds and a couple of tornadoes are possible well into the overnight and early morning hours. A separate watch farther southwest near Wichita Falls runs until 11 p.m.
Watch Covers Eastern Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas
The new watch covers a large part of eastern Oklahoma. That includes Tulsa, Bartlesville, Muskogee, Okemah, McAlester, Ada, and Atoka. Areas near Durant, Antlers, Hugo, and Idabel in southeast Oklahoma are also included.
The watch extends into northwest Arkansas, including Bentonville, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, and Mena. Parts of extreme southwest Missouri near Joplin and Carthage are also in the watch area. Residents across these areas should stay alert through the night.
Line of Storms Moving East
Radar at 7:33 p.m. CST Monday showed a long line of storms stretching from near Wichita Falls, Texas, northeast through Lawton, Oklahoma City, Stillwater, and Ponca City. The line continued into Kansas near Winfield and Wichita. Some of the strongest cells, shown in red and purple, were near Enid and Oklahoma City.
Frequent lightning was recorded along much of the line. The storms are moving east and northeast toward the new watch area. They are expected to reach Tulsa and eastern Oklahoma later tonight.
Capping Limits the Worst Tornado Risk
The good news is that the atmosphere has some capping, a layer of warm air that keeps storms from fully taking off. That has kept the higher-end tornado potential from developing so far this evening. Many storms have stayed in a line rather than forming separate supercells…