Everything is fine in the Village. Tiny bit of rain and some thunder, but that is about all so far.

sirens going off again right now, 8 PM

Wow, the footage over Bridge Creek is super spooky. The sun is shining here, but it looks like Gotham City there.

I'm afraid Bridge Creek is about to get slammed again, and they already have damage from the first tornado. Watching The Weather Channel all night and I haven't seen any of you flying by on the TV or floating by either. That's a good thing. Y'all stay safe. I am afraid this will go on for a while. On the radar I've been watching, there's storms all the way down south of Midland, TX, and they just keep training over the same parts of west TX and western OK, eventually making their way to the OKC metro area. Flooding is a big issue too, in case any of you just emerged from your storm shelter, fraidy hole, closet, etc.and don't realize there's new temporary rivers of water running all over the place in central OK. TWC has been showing a lot of flooded roadways that are impassable.

We've been in a dry slot all day long down here, and I am happy to report that. I surely do not want all that rain and craziness y'all are getting up there, and just hope everyone gets through these storms with as little damage as possible. The rain from Texas will reach us eventually, but I worked in the garden almost all day long, so this was a great bonus day where the rain stayed away, at least for all the daylight hours.

Those of you in western and central OK should see a lot of drought improvement and hopefully some lakes and rivers really filling up with the runoff from so much rain in such a short amount of time.

Danger lurks for Saturday too, so keep that in mind when making your plans.

Lisa and all, I posted pictures at the Kitchen Table forum.

Wow, Moni, you got more than I have so far, but it is finally raining pretty good here. This storm has been really wild. It is just staying right over us and the tornadoes are popping up and moving in weird directions. There is one headed my way at the moment, but they think it will turn.

The latest spinup I'm watching is near I-35/44th St if that is near any of you. Reportedly overturned cars.

We're not under the radar and the winds are monstrous. Ya'll be safe !!! Even we have our shoes on and gear ready.

It's finally moving east. It looks like the worst of it is headed closer to Paula...I'll go check FB and see if she's around

Hoping everyone is going to be ok!

glad to see you, moni. baited breath for everyone under the radar.

Hang on, Dawn! Break out the tethers for you and Tim!

LOL, Bon, Tim is safe at work in Dallas. I'm here, though, and nothing is happening. I can always run to the tornado shelter if the weather radio alert goes off during the night, but so far, I'm just a severe weather spectator. It is Dullsville here, weather-wise, but that's okay. Dull is good.

Do y'all know that the OKC metro already has recorded as much as 5" to 8" of rain today? Rain is still falling. Heck, by the time I finish typing this it may be 6" to 9" of rain.

The NWS has issued your first ever (per The Weather Channel) Flash Flood Emergency through 9 a.m. tomorrow. I'll link it below in case anyone is reading this on their phone or iPad while sitting in the fraidy hole or closet. Y'all could experience flooding at a historic level, and water may enter homes in low-lying areas per The Weather Channel.

Dr. Forbes says a big bow echo is entering Norman with some strong wind gusts.

I hope someone hears from Paula.

Glad all of you who checked in have made it through the wind, rain, tornadoes and whatever else Mother Nature has thrown at you. I cannot imagine what everyone's yards and gardens will look like by morning. The images of flooding we are seeing here are not pretty.

Dawn

Flash Flood Warning/Flash Flood Emergency Declared by NWS

If y'all are near Tuttle, or downstream from Tuttle: Exotic animals from Tiger Safari are on the loose after the animal refuge was hit by a tornado tonight, per KFOR. If you see the missing animals (in your yard or garden or anyplace else), they're asking you to report their location by calling 9-1-1.

I really think y'all are having a little too much excitement there in central OK today and tonight. I wonder what daylight will reveal tomorrow when everyone can walk outdoors and survey their area for damage.

Edited to add that all the animals apparently now have been accounted for, so if you are in Tuttle, it is safe to leave your homes. I just hope you're not floating out of them.

Rain has started falling here, and there's a tornado way off to our southwest that looks like it will eventually track north of us (if it holds together long enough to get anywhere near us) but our weather is meek and mild compared to what other parts of OK experienced today.

They SAID they found them all. For a little humor though...

I have heard several times from Paula. She is fine. I'm sure she will check in tomorrow. She had a ton of hail.

We are fine in far NE Cleveland county. I have never heard SO MANY SIRENS. Chad is out of town, so I had to herd an angry cat and a hyper dog to our hidey hole for about 30 minutes around 9:30 when they saw some rotation at 89th and Post road. We didn't get any rain until about 9:30, but then we got 2.8 inches in half an hour and ended up with some water in the garage (we need to work out a new drainage plan in our front yard). Crazy loud wind and some hail but nothing that seemed too big. I don't see any obvious tree damage, but will need to look again in the morning.
My mother's nursing home in west Norman wasn't hit by the tornado, but it's in a low lying area so I wonder if they got some flooding.
Driving to work THIS morning was an adventure because so many roads were covered in mud, water or both. I can't even imagine what tomorrow's commute is.
I won't have a chance to check on the garden until after work tomorrow. I put extra stakes on the tomato plants before the storm today, so maybe they will be okay.
I still can't imagine my garlic isn't rotting down in the clay.

I hope everyone else was as lucky as I was. Anxiously awaiting everyone's check in.
Krista

Glad you're okay, Krista. Hope everything is smooth sailing in the morning. (No pun intended.)

Ugh!. Thanks Lisa for speaking for me & my raised beds but we are under water right now. BIG TIME. The second step to our front deck is under water and I can't see the top bricks of the raised beds. I'm just shaking my head and wondering what the H just happened. The hail was freakin' un-believeable. I have video but too tired to upload right now. Krista - you must be on lots higher ground than me even if you're relatively close....glad you're safe and escaped the damage.

Swimming from NE rural Norman...p-mac aka Paula

Lots of approaching thunder for the last hour or so, but no rain yet between Seminole and Wewoka.

I love the humor. I don't suppose the Tuttle High School mascot actually is a Tiger?

I'm glad all of you have checked in and are okay and am sorry to hear about all the damage. I cannot imagine what you'll find tomorrow when you walk outside in the daylight and can see whatever havoc nature wreaked upon your places. At least it is only May and damaged plants have a long growing season ahead of them in which to recover and regrow.

I cannot believe these storms did so much damage today or that they dropped so much rain.

I wouldn't spend too much time cleaning up outside until after Saturday's round of severe weather rolls through. No point in cleaning up all the mess and debris twice!

Storms are approaching from our west, but I'm going to get off the computer and go to bed. I've been listening to thunder forever but all we've had is light rain and a little bitty bit of wind (not WIND like some of y'all had, just wind). The Weather Radio will wake me up if anything severe is headed our way. I watched every bit of your central OK storms on The Weather Channel for hours and am exhausted....just from seeing it. I cannot imagine living through it.

In the morning, if your roads are flooded, be good and turn around and don't drown.

Dawn

The water receded, but more it promised for today. I ended up going to bed during blasting sirens... and heard them 3 more times during the next 40 minutes.

Ready to eat breakfast and go to work, but really do need some more sleep.

Good Morning Oklahoma!

Moni

Paula, the difference is that we "only" got 2.2 inches on Tuesday and we totally missed the first round of rain (the round that accompanied the norman tornado) last night. Our total rainfall for last night "just" ended up at three inches. I am so sorry you are dealing with so much water. I was upset when we first moved here because we can BARELY hear the tornado sirens from our house. That turned out to be a blessing last night....nonstop sirens for almost 4 hours made me want to put in earplugs even though they are very soft here. I cannot believe more rain is in the forecast.

A LOT more rain is in the forecast, though the heavier totals are starting to shift northeast a little. That's Oklahoma weather---you may go 2 or 3 months with virtually no rainfall in the worst drought years and then get many inches in one day.

If I'd had to listen to sirens for four hours last night I'd be a raving maniac today.

I'm still just amazed by how much water Paula had. It is mind-boggling.

Our storm was loud and rowdy when it finally made it here in the wee hours of the morning and I got only a couple of hours of sleep, but we had only a normal severe thunderstorm. Y'all had an amazingly bad round of bad weather there in central OK---the term "severe weather" doesn't seem like a really adequate description of what so many people went through. Apparently high water rescues were ongoing throughout the night.

I hope all the garden and landscape plants were wearing their floaties or doing the dogpaddle to stay afloat. Remember, too, that high water sends snakes up into trees, onto porches, etc. and keep your eyes open for venomous snakes in odd places when you're outside surveying the damage and trying to clean up.

I've linked the 7-day QPF. It shows a lot of rain over the next week. Many places in OK got a whole lot more rain in the last 7 days than it had predicted, so who knows what some folks may get over the course of the next week.

The forecast for Saturday is already scary, y'all, and I expect it will worsen as the event approaches. Some years it is amazing our gardens make it to June because the May weather seems determined to destroy them every year. Often, after these storms we are mostly talking about damage to lawns, gardens, farmland, etc. I suspect today there's a ton of damage to homes as well. The roofers and contractors are gonna be busy helping folks patch things up.

Dawn

7-Day Qualitative Precipitation Forecast

I had just over an inch in the rain gauge this morning. No overflowing rain gauge yesterday. :) I keep hearing the drum beat for Saturday. Eeek. We want to go out to Okarche. We may have to make sure we go early.

Lisa, I keep waiting for your overflowing day to occur......

I'd be super careful about travel on Saturday. The SPC Convective Outlook currently has several different risk areas over various parts of OK. I think Dr. Forbes already has a 6 for OK on Sat and it wouldn't surprise me to see it go to a 7 or higher.

Paula, That is crazy, crazy, crazy. We were just there and the height of your beds and row covers is fresh in my mind and I cannot comprehend the water being that high. We didn't have water that high when we got 12. 89" of rain in one 24-hour period in 2009, but we slope so I am sure someone downhill from us got the worst of that rainfall.

Hmmm. Drunken potatoes. Is there a recipe for that? It might be a big hit, in or out of a garden, although I don't drink beer either so it probably wouldn't be a big hit with me.

We did give ourselves a new driveway at Christmas after that 2009 flood, and we waited until Christmas because the rain relentlessly continued almost nonstop for months and we didn't want to have to put in new gravel twice in one year. We'd hoped to wait until late winter, which is our driest period here, but the autumn and early December rains that year eventually washed out so much driveway that all we had was mud, so Elvis came and brought tons of gravel and fixed our driveway the week after Christmas. It was wonderful to have a firm surface again. He was such a good sport about it because it really was too wet to do that kind of work, but he and his son were miracle workers despite boggy mud and standing water and made the driveway as good as new.

At least your flower pots didn't end up floating 5 miles away, and the redbud trees will put out new foliage.

I like your positive attitude about the extra water in the pool. : ) Sometimes it can be hard to find the silver lining in the clouds here in OK. Why does our weather have to be so extreme so much of the time. It would be a whole lot more enjoyable to live and garden here if we didn't have to worry about such extreme weather, especially in April, May and sometimes June.

We may need a daily check-in thread. That is a disturbing thought.

We haven't had to flee to our hidey-hole yet this year, but I am thinking that Saturday it just might happen. A huge part of the state is under pretty high risk that day, and it isn't like there's not a risk today and tomorrow, because there is.

Our rainfall so far this week is much less than the QPF had predicted, for which I am grateful since April brought us enough moisture to last a long time. We've only had 2.85" so far for the whole week, and that's not bad considering what happened in central OK yesterday and overnight.

I spent the whole day in the garden yesterday, but don't think I'll get to do that today. We woke up to light rainfall on top of the ground already soggy from the overnight severe storms.

Dawn

Paula, you need to take a pic of your drunken potatoes!! We all want to see them!

The question is are the drunken potatoes wearing lampshades on their heads and ogling pretty females?

I am amazed at how the storms just sat and trained over the same places last night while those of us just a few miles away stayed almost completely dry. Friends of ours in north Norman got over 7" of rain yesterday, and I think we just barely cracked half an inch at our place in south Norman. We got almost 5" of rain the day before yesterday, though. I expect some big changes in the Drought Monitor map next week for sure.

We escaped all the tornado and wind damage yesterday, but the 5" the day before let us know that our house is still leaking. We thought we had it fixed but apparently not. I'm trying to think dry thoughts for the rest of this week.

Dawn, I don't know what kind of crazy snakes you have at your house, but I'm certain my snakes just go to the far end of my yard when it rains and they stay there quietly where I can't see them and don't have to think about them. Yup. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. No snakes in trees at my place.

Right about the snakes. I found one slithering through about 1/2" of rainwater over the walking path, yesterday. Non venomous, but notable. We were too buy to mow before it rained. We must do something today and tomorrow at least in the paths.

miraje, I noticed the same. Watched the radar and was amazed how the storms simply made a rotation in a way that caused them to hover over one spot. In the case of S Oklahoma City, it was a very long time.

Dawn, In answer to your Tuttle question:

Yesterday was our Tuttle grandson's 2nd birthday and they spent most of the evening in the shelter, but said they took a cake break. They did a quick survey this morning and said all they lost was a trampoline, but some of their friends were not so lucky and had lots of damage, including flooding.

Well heck, the Tuttle Tiger showed up on my screen, but not in the post.Tiger

hahaha, they really are the Tigers!!

MIraje, I hope y'all can find the source of the leak before it does too much more damage. Those leaks can be really hard to find! I'll be thinking dry thoughts for you and hope that it helps.

If the Drought Monitor doesn't show some significant improvement for the areas that got those training storms, I'll be shocked.

I sure wonder what we'll be saying on Monday or Tuesday after a few more days of wild weather. Hopefully we'll all still be here.

Krista, I've had too many snake scares to count, but some of the worst ones have been when I have been picking tomatoes and have found myself eye to eye with a snake----any snake. Why they insist upon climbing up into tomato plants and cages, or on top of shade cloth suspended above the plants in the dead of summer is beyond me. My snakes are poorly behaved and live by the rule that we humans just need to get out of their way. I do my best to comply. Actually, I have to give the venomous snakes some credit---every single one I've ever encountered has tried to wait for me to go away without attempting to strike me. Clearly they'd rather not waste their venom on a human who is not an overt threat to them. Will they attempt to strike if you move towards them after you've already stopped? Absolutely but it seems they'd rather freeze in place (as do I) and wait for me to go away (while I wait for them to go away). Playing a game of chicken with snakes is not a favorite pastime of mine.

Carol, I am glad they had a chance for a cake break. Even a Tuttle Tiger needs their birthday cake when they're only 2 years old and it isn't their fault the weather was wild on their special day.

Lisa, That's too funny! I wasn't sure how big the Tiger refuge was or if it was a well-integrated part of the community, but since T is for Tiger and T is for Tuttle, I had to make that guess!

Have y'all seen the horrific news about the woman who drowned in SE OKC in her tornado shelter? This is such horrifying news. It is so hard in some places (maybe not in central OK where y'all know all too well how destructive and deadly severe weather can be) to get people to actually go to their tornado shelters and use them, and I cannot help thinking that this woman's unfortunate and tragic demise will make some people worry about the safety of seeking shelter in a below-ground tornado shelter. What a heartbreaking thing to occur. I've also seen a news story about a Bridge Creek man who saved his neighbors who were trapped in one of those shelters that are installed below their garage floor. Both water and natural gas were leaking into the shelter, and the garage had collapsed onto it, pinning them in the shelter beneath the debris. They are lucky to have such a heroic neighbor. One thing about all the OK severe weather is that people here are so good, kind and helpful and will go to any length to help one another. Storms make us strong and resilient, and I don't know how our communities would survive without residents who have those qualities.

You know, most days we're talking about this plant or that, or this pest or that, or whatever, and all of that seems just inconsequential compared to the tragedies endured every year by Oklahomans during our famous severe weather. We often say you have to be tough to garden in Oklahoma. Well, I think you have to be tough to live and survive in Oklahoma.

It is such a cliche' that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, but it is so true.

Dawn

Yes, that is certainly tragic news. A similar thing happened in 2007 during the "tropical storm" Erin event in SW Oklahoma, and then again in 2013 in Oklahoma City. As meteorologists it's so hard to give safety advice in situations like that because the guidance for tornadoes and floods are completely opposite. It really comes down to individual situations and knowing your dangers. I was watching David Payne and channel 9 last night, and he was doing a pretty good job of emphasizing both the tornado and flooding hazards. I guess if we are accurate and precise enough with our tornado tracking, viewers can try to make an educated decision about whether they'll be a safe enough distance from the tornado to protect themselves from floods. For people who live in low-lying areas, the flood may very well be the bigger danger since tornadoes affect such a small area.

Last night when they started issuing all the flash flood warnings and talking about rising water and street closings, I did wonder for a brief moment if anyone would be in danger from having water pour into their tornado shelter, but I didn't for a minute think it actually was likely to happen.

In our specific location, I'd likely be more worried about flash flooding than the tornado, unless I was watching the radar and could see the tornado right over our specific location or rapidly approaching it. We always go to the tornado shelter when we are tornado-warned, but often the storm isn't all that close to us, or is moving away from us. Still, why take the chance and not go to the shelter? Even in the tornado shelter, I've always got a smart phone and laptop with me, and a portable radio that includes our fire and police channels and a weather radio channel. I like to know what is going on while we are in there. But, it is easy for me to say that right now when nothing is happening and I am not having to make that choice quickly under pressure. None of us can be positive how we'd react in the heat of the moment. It would be a horrible choice to have to leave a tornado shelter and go out into a storm to avoid rising water in a tornado shelter, and not one anyone would make lightly---especially if debris is flying and you're not wearing a helmet to protect your head. Risk a brain injury that might kill you or risk drowning? What a terrible choice to have to make. It would be even a harder choice if you had elderly people or small children with you and felt responsible for the safety of everyone.

As much as we try to prepare for every dangerous weather situation that might occur, sometimes you just can't predict what sort of multiple hazards might occur forcing some tough choices.

I remember Erin. It was awesome and something I never thought I'd see here, but it rotated around us and we didn't get all that rain that central OK got, so we were just enjoying watching it on the radar or even standing in the yard and watching big bands of clouds fly over us and around us, headed towards central OK.

I guess the above ground safe rooms might offer a reasonable solution for protection against both tornadoes and floods, but I know they are so costly to build that it's not feasible for everyone. One of the problems is that forecasters will sometimes draw large tornado warnings for the whole storm kind of as a replacement for a severe thunderstorm warning rather than just drawing a tiny box right where the tornado will be, so maybe that's sending a ton of people to their tornado shelters who aren't in immediate danger from a tornado. In reality a tiny tiny fraction of people in that warning will be hit by a tornado (like <1%). If we issued smaller, more focused tornado warnings then perhaps we could avoid situations where people have to jump needlessly into their shelters even when flooding is going on. We shouldn't have to make people make those horrible decisions unless it's absolutely necessary.

Anyway, this has nothing to do with gardens so I will shut up now. :)

Mostly okay in east Norman. A dented car and minor flooding, most importantly the garden is just fine. Sending love to those not so fortunate.

Add to it all the reality that we have had multiple minor quakes over the last few days. fortunately, we were under the storm zone.

Paula, so sorry! Sounds like you were hit way worse than we were at 36th NE & Robinson.

Here we go again.

Last night I took our supplies in a rubbermaid tote down into our in-floor garage shelter and was surprised and dismayed to hear a sloshing noise with each step! There is no water in the shelter, but under the floor there is definitely water built up, and as I walked it squished and the floor had a definite bounce. The installer said that is OK and we must have a high water table, but I wonder what y'all think? We just spent many thousands of dollars on this thing and had it installed about 2 months ago. :(

I don't fear flooding in the shelter like I've seen going around pictures on FB, we are at a pretty high point in the neighborhood, but worry about water coming in from underneath.

Mia, that would upset me a lot. If you're high in the neighborhood, how can you have a high water table? Wouldn't that put standing water in lower areas?

Amy, that's what I thought! I have a voicemail in to them to try to get someone to come look at it.

The Village has some high water tables. I've heard we have artesian wells.

Glad to hear everybody is ok. We spent Wed. Night in the cellar. Here in SW OKC we received over 10" of rain and multiple tornado threats. We spent over 5 hours in the cellar and crawled out to find a river running in front of our house and as far north as I could see!! I think the flooding scared me more than the tornadoes. My daughter and grandson (he's 3 1/2 ) were here and she stayed overnight because she couldn't get home because of the flooding. I am ready to say enough is enough. Our house sits on a hillside to no water in the house, donkeys were in the barn, dogs in the cellar, so all are ok. I am dreading Friday and Saturday, I guess we will be back in the cellar, I just hope the rain is light.

Glad ya'll are okay, stockergal. That sounds awful. I'll be glad when this is finished.