If there is one thing you can depend on in Oklahoma, it is the weather. We are nearly to the middle of May and the storms that produce tornadoes are starting to roll across our state. Monday morning and most of the day, it was very nice in our state. Cool, with low humidity, but as the day progressed, the warnings of weather forecasters began to come true. The humidity and the temperatures started rising, as a warm front moved in from the south, combining with the cool air to produce the conditions that are ripe for the funnel clouds.
It’s that time of the year again and much as the residents of the Gulf Coast have became used to hurricanes, we have come to realize that tornadoes are a way of life in our plains state. There is little you can do about them, outside of watching the weather forecast and the radar, and being prepared to take cover. Sometimes, even that isn’t enough, especially if the dwelling you are in takes a direct hit by the funnel cloud. The only salvation we have is being home to the premier tornado forecasting center in the world, housed in Norman, Oklahoma. The people who work at the Storm Prediction Center really know their stuff and they gave the warnings well in advance of the storms that swept across Oklahoma and Kansas Monday evening. It is really a miracle that no more than two people lost their lives.
One thing that I have seen mentioned in the news reports about the storms is
how it seemed some Oklahoma residents ignored the warnings that were given, even though they were in the direct path of the storms. With sirens blaring and three tornado-producing storms headed into the area, rush hour continued unabated in Oklahoma City, as people seemed to think they could beat the storms home. We kind of get used to the idea of the storms and if we are not careful, we can get too complacent. There is nothing like a softball-sized hail stone or a giant funnel cloud coming at you to wake you up. Like I have already said, it is a miracle that more people were not killed or severely injured.
Even as the cleanup continues and people start trying to go back to their homes, the weather looms over our heads again. The Storm Prediction Center has warned that more storms could develop this evening and into the night. If I were a gambling man, my money would be on them, as they have shown great accuracy in predicting when and where these storms would develop.
The damage these storms are capable of can boggle the mind, especially if you have not been around such damage or have yet to see some of the images. Take the image on the left, for example. Does anyone want to venture a guess as to what the pile of crumpled metal used to be? I’ll give you a hint. It is vital to something we all use every day. Give up? It is the remains of an AT&T cell phone tower in Little Axe, Oklahoma. That’s right, it’s one of those towers that look so formidable, so strong and tall, reduced to a pile of scrap metal.
To give you some idea of the size and power of some of these storms, here is a video from FOX News, taken from a helicopter that was flying near one of the funnel clouds. I am not sure which of the storms this was, but it is a monster that seemed to grow bigger and stronger the longer it was on the ground. You may have to turn your volume up to hear the information the man was relaying to someone on the radio.
Watching the video and seeing how the helicopter was moving around, it makes me wonder how close the pilot was willing to get to the storm. Me, I would have turned tail and flown straight away from the cloud. When it comes to these storms, I am not a brave person and neither should you be. They are extremely dangerous and anyone who lives in Tornado Alley should be cautious.
Glad you’re OK.
Thanks, David. It was interesting for a while Monday night and it could be tonight as well. I don’t mind saying, I don’t like these storms.
Ha! We have you beat here in North Carolina. We get hurricanes and we get tornadoes, although I must admit we don’t see tornadoes of the size and scope usually witnessed dashing across the plains.
Glad you are okay. That cell phone picture is amazing. Who would have thunk it?
Amazing and scary video. I thought the cell phone tower was the remains of a roller coaster. Keep your head down Larry!
Matt, where are you in NC? I’m moving to Asheville this summer.
Cary, next to Raleigh. You’ll be safe up in Asheville…the occasional blizzard is easy to handle.
The Containment Area!! Are you a Relocated Yankee?
That was the tornado in the Norman/Noble area. I was watching that on OKC News 9′s website…
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I wrote a post for my blog through the Monday tornado. Didn’t do much in West Tulsa. Just rain and wind. We’ll see what we get tonight!
I’m glad you are safe and all is well!
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I am glad that you and your family are okay. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have to worry about this on what seems like a daily basis.
I am with Mike, I also thought the cell tower was the remains of a roller coaster.
I was concerned for you guys in OK. I’m a NOAA weather spotter here in Iowa and I know first hand how powerful a tornado can be. And actually about 2hrs ago when I was creating a post for my blog the lights went out because of a severe thunderstorm. Isn’t tornado alley great Larry?
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Brad, do you actually go out and look for the storms? I listen to the ham radio operators who have their own network of spotters and believe me, my scanner gets to hopping around with their traffic. If you do that, you are a brave soul. I tend to want to run in the other direction.
Yeah, tornado alley is a great place to live. Except for the tornadoes, that is. Oh well, the east coast has the hurricanes and California has the earthquakes. I guess we can live with a few twisters.
I was listening to the news this morning and they confirmed 10 tornadoes in Oklahoma alone, Monday night. Not sure about the number in Kansas.
I do not travel long distances to chase them, but I will follow storms in the county I live and the county I work in. You do have to take a 3 hr. course every 2 years to become a true NOAA spotter. Most of the time I know exactly what the storm is doing and where I will be safe. But early evening storms that are just developing out of bright sunny skies can be a little scary. Because they can drop a tornado in a matter of minutes.
It looks like there were three major EF3 long lived tornadoes in your area on Monday. NOAA only has preliminary data available right now. One of them traveled 30 miles without even a break in the damage path.
EF3 – Roofs and walls destroyed. Trees uprooted. Trains overturned.
There have been only two EF5 tornadoes this decade in the US and one of them was in Parkersburg 50 miles direcly north of where I live. Some of the debris was found 100s of miles away in Wisconsin. I know this is gross but livestock was actually pulverized into dust.
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