Jay, Once the cold weather passes, it may be tomato planting time here......maybe about Tues. or Wed. depending on what the forecasters say and on what I feel "in my bones". I think that after this cold spell passes, zone 7B "ought to" be done with the cold, but I might be wrong. I'm making progress too, but there's so much I need to do that actually involves "planting" and, with this cold spell, planting of warm-season crops just isn't smart yet. Imp, I hope you're not in the part of NW OK expecting wind gusts up to 60 mph between about noon and 3 p.m. because that kind of wind is so hard on plants (and power lines, etc.) The last time we had wind like that here, trampolines went flying hundreds of feet and, in more open areas, hundreds of yards. And, of course, some power lines came down. I hope you can throw bedsheets or blankets or something over your ornamentals and save them. This certainly is challenging weather. Dawn

And, for those of you in the forecast area of the Tulsa office of the NWS, here's your webpage. Here is a link that might be useful: Webpage of Tulsa Office of the NWS

Bon, If y'all have a weather radio with the alert feature, most county emergency management officials will ask the NWS to set off the warning alert tone when a fire evacuation is ordered. Otherwise, check tomorrow with your local emergency management officials or the fire department (paid or volunteer) nearest to you to see if they have a notification system. Some counties have a reverse-9-1-1 system that calls residents to alert them when something like this is occurring. In some counties, you have to sign up to get these alerts. In others, it robocalls all the residents. Some county emergency management officials tweet out news like this. All I can suggest is you listen to your weather radio or local media for instructions. It always is advisable to have an emergency evacuation plan and a "go bag" ready for each person, including your most important family papers and medications. If you have animals, have their pet crate or leash, food, etc. packed and ready to go. With the weather we are having now, every one of us needs to have a plan, and a back-up plan, on how we'll leave our property QUICKLY in the event a wildfire is moving our way. You should, if possible, have two ways off your property. Last year, our next door neighbor put a big cattle gate in the fence between his place and ours, so now we both have two ways to leave--via our own driveway, or by driving across a pasture and through that gate to the other adjoining property. Hopefully, we'll only use the cattle gate for cattle, but it is nice to have that as an option. Despite my years of involvement with our VFD, last year was the first time I seriously had to figure out how I could evacaute myself and our pets if I was home alone. It wouldn't be easy, but I wouldn't leave them behind. The scary thing about fire is how spotting occurs, where new fires start from embers blown ahead of the advancing fire line. Wind-driven fire is more dangerous than wildfire on a calm day with low wind, but remember that fires create their own wind and own weather. If I hear anything about Payne County, I'll let you know. I usually rely upon the Oklahoma Forestry Service, NWS or local media for anything outside my own county. For my county, I have the fire radio, of course. If your county has a website online that they keep updated, check it. Good luck. Just keep your eyes and ears open and be prepared to flee at literally a minute's notice. Usually, when the call comes to evacuate ahead of the fire, you must leave without a minute's hesitation. That's why you need Go bags packed and ready to grab and go. Most people who perish in a fire do so because they do not heed the warning to evacuate immediately. When my county evacuates, the word goes out on the weather radio, the fire/police radios, etc. Anyone with a scanner can hear the radio traffic and know what's happening even before the weather alert is sounded. Our EM director also texts out news like that via nexle.com. Check with your county tomorrow to see if they use that or a similar service to keep their residents in the loop. Fire Departments may or may not have time to sound the storm sirens at their stations (not all departments have those) to warn residents because they all may already by out in the field fighting the fire. Probably you and I will not be able to figure out any other way tonight for you to find out what is going on, but tomorrow would be a good time to find out your options for future fires. There are and have been several large fires the last few days, including a 140 acre one in LeFlore County, a 500 acre one in Johnston County, and a big one now in its third day in Creek County. I'd say the summer fire season is upon us, ready or not. Dawn

The Fire Weather Watch has been upgraded to a Red Flag Fire Warning for many counties in northern, central and western Oklahoma. See the new thread on the Red Flag Fire Warning to see if you are in one of those counties.