3/31/08

Rocky tornadic night in OKC!

It's 2am and I am up watching the OKC newsfeed as all kinds of lowerings and funnels keep coming down around the OKC area!

According to our most veteran weather forecaster here, Gary England, "it's a wierd night of weather out there right now". Everything had calmed down, the tornado warnings had all expired and then quite suddenly hook echoes started appearing over the city and then wall clouds started lowering. I am watching live feeds from some very brave storm trackers and just keep hearing constant tornado sirens and reports of damage.

Right now it's very unclear as it's dark and the power is out, how strong these funnels have been and how much damage there is. There is nothing worse than rain wrapped tornado's after dark, as it makes them very hard to spot and nearly all the warnings and forecasts have to be done by some amazingly sophisticated radar.

Now I understand why the National Weather Service is based in Norman, Oklahoma....at least we have the best tornado forecasting technology in the world here.

I am fervently hoping none of my OKC blogger friends have been affected by this weather.

7 comments:

Mary (Bookfan) said...

Wow, Sarah, the weather really keeps you on your toes! We woke up to thunder, lightning and heavy rain this morning - perhaps some of your weather. I'm just happy it's not more snow. I hope your weather is calm this morning. Take care!

Vickie said...

{{HUGS}}
That is one thing that I will really keep in mind when DH and I start talking about moving to Kansas near my dad in Ottawa. I really did not like the tornadoes.
Prayers and tornado keep away vibes going out!

Pam said...

holy crap! nothing like being dragged from a deep sleep by the sound of tornado sirens! it was all located way north of us but still Oklahoma County. But I know that my husband is now a true Okie because he never really woke up enough to get out of bed to check the weather. Couldn't be bothered. No panic whatsoever on his part. I turned on the TV to follow the storms and make sure they weren't on top of us. We had loads of wild wind, but nothing severe at our house. My sister works for Edmond Electric, I bet she will be busy today! Hope all is well with you! Can't believe you were up watching Gary! We must compare weathermen sometime!

Unknown said...

Pam I am a Rick Mitchell gal through and through, but CH5 didn't have the spotters out there last night like Ch9!

Julie said...

It was a weird weather night here, in Utah, too! We had a blizzard, for real. I hope you guys are safe! probably a good idea with the insurance thing!

Anonymous said...

You're right about CH. 5 not having as many spotters out. We usually flip back and forth between all three channels. We did get heavy rain and the bad part was only about a mile or so from us, but we came out unscathed, except for being exhausted from the blasted weather radio going off half the night!

Pam said...

yep, i'm a rick mitchell girl myself. i like his calm demeanor. i also liked channel 4 reporting the other night, but Mike Morgan is a little too natty for me sometimes but i think he does a good job on air. but there's nothing like seeing gary england in full-on tornado mode for entertainment. "jump back!" "val, what are you seeing out there?"