That's true. We have been pretty lucky overall. One thing I'll always remember is having to hide out in the cellar that wasn't kept cleaned up. There was about 10 inches of water in the bottom and several hundred crickets hopping around. I sat at the very top of the stairs, slapping my head thinking they were on me. That night, a large trailer park was destroyed with lots of injuries and a couple of people died. But I still hate crickets. Heebie-jeebie!

I remember yucky storm cellars as well, so I keep ours nice and clean and stocked with supplies. I can't stand going into it if it is creepy.....not that we go into it all that often.....maybe 3 times in 9 years, but it is a "security blanket" during the storms. We always have the peace of mind of knowing that we can use it if we need it.

And then sometimes we are not so lucky. Don't forget about the monster tornado outbreak of May 1999 that tore through alot of Oklahoma, including parts of OKC and Moore, Ok. And the April 24th 1993 tornado that ripped through Catoosa, Ok. I count my blessings each and every spring that we manage to escape horrible weather. Just last night there was a tornado warning for where I live, which is between Sand Springs and Sperry, Ok in southeast Osage county. We had to get the grandbabies up (they are 1, 2 and 3 years old) and go to the storm cellar at about 2:30-3am. I am a native Oklahoman and have been in 2 tornadoes (including the April 24th 1993 tornado in Catoosa) and that was more than enough for me for a lifetime! At my house we keep an eye to the weather at all times! And just FYI the national weather service is expecting another outbreak of severe weather Wednesday and Thursday for Oklahoma, large hail, flooding rains and the possibility of tornadoes in northeastern Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas.

Here is a link that might be useful: National Weather Service Tulsa Hazardous Weather Outlook

I agree, grannyjojo, that we often get hit here as well. I have seen more twisters in the air, and more damage on the ground, since moving here in '99 than I saw in 39 years in Fort Worth. (We moved here about 6 or 8 weeks before the 1999 OKC/Moore tornadoes, although that night was quiet here in Love County. Our friends and DH's co-workers in Texas heard about the storms in OKC on their evening news, though, and our phone was ringing off the wall.) Our house was new that year and didn't have a tornado shelter, but we added one the following spring.

Although a few major downtown areas have been hit by tornadoes in recent years (like Ft. Worth, Nashville and Atlanta, and, of course, OKC), I don't think ANY major city in the USA has been hit by tornadoes more than OKC. The other day the Weather Channel said OKC has been struck by over 100 tornadoes since such records have been kept.

It's just that this year (so far) we get the watches and warnings but not the tornadoes (at least here in southern OK), even the rain and the hail, and then we go to bed....and wake up the next morning only to find that the line of storms left Oklahoma and marched across the south or midwest and caused damage and destruction. It seems to have been a very persistent weather pattern from January through now. It will be interesting to see if that pattern continues through April or May, of if things change as we heat up a little.

Tonight the storms have been running from Fort Worth-Dallas up through the very southeastern edge of Oklahoma and into Arkansas and beyond. We've had lightning here throughout the night, and a little thunder, but the actual rain and hail have stayed south and southeast of us.

I am concerned about the next 2 days here. We, too, keep an eye on the weather at all times and are avid weather watchers. (I think you MUST do that when you live here.) We have two weather radios with the alert feature that goes off to warn of approaching weather and we keep the storm cellar fully stocked with supplies, etc.

I check the NWS Enhanced Weather Webpages and the Storm Prediction Center pages every day, and sometimes several times a day, to keep track of the storms. Living out in the boonies as we do, there are no storm sirens here in the less populated parts of the county, and we're too far away to hear the ones in town, so we have to look out for ourselves.

I hope everyone is safe today, tonight and tomorrow, because it is setting up to be a typical and dangerous Oklahoma spring day.

Dawn

I'll take a few weeks of this spring instability any day though over 11 months of winter. :-) I have friends in Minnesota that are still getting snow as of yesterday. I love those folks, but question their sanity. I'm sure they say the same thing about us and are perfectly happy mowing their grass once or twice a year.

randy

Gosh I'm glad you have been spared so far Dawn, thats great news! I was actually thankful after Monday night that we hadn't set out tomato plants yet because they would have taken quite a beating from the hail. Our yard was covered by hail in about 3 minutes. It was soooo white!

I volunteered for several years a few years ago at the National Weather Service here in Tulsa during severe weather season and saw first hand the hard job those folks have trying to predict and follow Oklahoma weather. As a community I don't think we give those guys enough credit for the difficult job they have. I have witnessed first hand many many times what mother nature can throw at us and since I have started a vegetable garden the last 3 years I am even more impressed at how accurate those folks are about our wild weather.

Last year during a hail storm we lost several tomato, okra and pepper plants and I was heartbroken. We also live in the "boonies" where there are no sirens and the only way to alert people if severe weather is headed our way is by the volunteer fire department, which happens few and far between.

My husband and son in law have become enthusiastic storm chasers over the last few years and since they both have their ham radio license we now have the added advantage of hearing most of the radio reports first hand before they make it on television. I am always so thankful when the major thrust of severe weather season is over, especially for my vegetable and flower garden. They sure love the water but I worry too much over each and every little plant I put out!

They have already issued a flash flood watch for northeastern Oklahoma beginning at 1pm today lasting through Thursday evening with 2-4 inches rain possible and some isolated areas receiving up to 7 inches! Thats way too much water for me! I guess I'm going to hold off putting my tomato plants out this weekend. Its going to be too wet and the temps are going to be down in the 30's for lows all weekend. Stay safe and dry!!

My daughter lives in Longmont, CO, and I have noticed the past few months that whatever weather they are getting there often makes it's way here, though not so cold. On Monday morning she was describing the hail they were getting there - and explaining what causes it, since they had just discussed it in her environmental studies class.

Yes it does, and it is because of Gulf, and the cooler air from the Rockies..

The Storms have been on a decreases for the last 5-6 years, with less and less storms, little rain etc, this has given is a false sense of security.

This year it has started off like is should, but also different.
Let me explain,
Different because the storms from the past came in at an angle from the North/West, more north then east. Lets say from Lawton, OKC and Tulsa and would move across the state in that pattern.
This year, our storms and marching up from the south.

Or they reach OKC/Tulsa line, then die out only to regain strength in Texas.

Today, we are expected the storms OKC the day before yesterday.. we got the cold front, but nothing else, today that same system in in Texas and is now backing up as a warm front.

If you also notice, storms seem to move along bodies of water, and Patterns
Also it seems that storms are stronger in some towns the others, not just because of a "Strong Cell", but it has something to do to with where they are located.

I love to watch the weather, but I had bad weather and to be in it. they do scare me, but at the same time I also love it.

We always get a kick out of how many storms from the west stop at I-44. That must be one strong hiway. Looks like today will be the exception however.

Randy, I would take our scarey spring and summer weather over prolonged cold weather too. DH's siblings and all their kids still live in Pennsylvania where winter is way too long and too cold and summer is too brief and never really gets hot. I couldn't live there. As for someplace like Wisconsin or Minnesota.....I think I wouldn't last one winter there.

Grannyjojo, All day the bad stuff has gone to our west OR to our east, but there is a very wicked storm in west Texas, with tornadoes on the ground, and all that stuff and it appears to be tracking our way. (sigh) I keep watching the animated rader and even though the storms are still quite a distance away, they are making me nervous.

The good news is that the tornado cellar is ready and waiting if we need it.

I'd settle for a good, old-fashioned pounding from the hail if only the tornadoes will stay away.

Pat, Some years (like this one) it does seem like the same weather patterns recur over and over and we see the storms traveling the same path repeatedly. Here in Love County, we are more likely to get our weather coming at us from Texas instead of coming down across Oklahoma. For us, though, the worst weather in our part of the state tends to occur when one system comes north from the more northern or northwestern parts of OK and another comes from Texas and they collide near us. That's when it often gets wild here.

Kirts, I have noticed the rain often goes either just west of Love County or just east of it. We see it all the time. It is frustrating when you need rain and it repeatedly misses you, but on a day like today I am hoping it will continue to go around us and miss us.

Unfortunately, the storms in Texas are moving our way and our tornado watch has been extended to 11 p.m.

I wouldn't be surprised if we get hit hard here in southern Oklahoma tonight. It is looking so bad that it makes me nervous. I don't think we've gone into the tornado shelter at all, or maybe once, in the last 4 or 5 years, but we might tonight.

Dawn

For 5 to 6 hours I've been watching a storm cell as it has slowly made its way across Texas and towards us. About 6 to 8 tornadoes have been reported (though unconfirmed) in this cell.

So, about an hour ago we were warned it was headed for Cooke County (across the Red River from us) and that we might be in danger. When it was half-way through that county, I began to relax because I could see it was going to jump I-35 from west to east while it was still 10 to 12 miles south of us. Thus, I knew we'd be by-passed again. Lucky once again. No hail, high wind or tornadoes here. Just really hard rain for a few minutes and lots of lightning. No fleeing to the storm cellar. Whew!

Even though it is good to be able to relax and to "know" that the worst of a storm cell has missed us, sometimes I think it would be better to "know nothing" and just assume it is a good old-fashioned thunderstorm all along.