It is not something that is very far out of reach. Meanwhile, this month forecasters like Dan McCarthy and Dave Andra will go to work each day knowing they are in the midst of the annual season of big trouble. At any time, normal daily chaos can turn destructive and kill. Everybody understands that a doctor doesn't make a completely accurate diagnosis, particularly for rare occurrences. Tracking a Killer Storm National Weather Service meteorologists relied on satellite imaging and Doppler radar to monitor the tornado outbreak in Oklahoma on May 3, 1999.
Radar gives a closer look at the storms and an idea of their structure.
Supercells visible as concentrated cloud formations on satellite images show up as colored clusters on Doppler radar. Deep red indicates intense precipitation of more than 8 inches per hour, including hail, as well as the possible presence of soil and debris churned up by a tornado funnel. The Western storm appears on radar. The front now includes four supercells. An F5 tornado in the leading storm has descended on Interstate 44, near Chickasha.