I surveyed the El Reno tornado damage today. As I walked through the mobile home park, I saw this newspaper on the ground. Evidently someone had saved it from 12 years ago, but the headline would have worked in today’s paper.
Local stations are always looking for story ideas. Here’s one: do a story explaining to viewers that it’s illegal, dangerous, selfish and stupid to stop your vehicle in traffic lanes so your car doesn’t get hailed on. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.
People, the tornadoes don’t know about the sirens. Hearing sirens doesn’t mean anything as far as the storm is concerned. Sirens are sounded by people and policies vary from city to city. Tornadoes can happen without sirens. We spend too much time talking about sirens. /rant
When meteorologists say it's difficult to forecast snow, this is just one of the reasons. This band over central Kansas was only 8 miles across in places.
We are about to go through something none of us has been through before, and I don’t think a lot of us are really grasping it. This is not going to be like a couple of fun snow days where everyone gets to stay home then we go back to life as usual. We are just beginning.
I guess all the OKC wx experts who were so critical of “another busted snow forecast” went to bed already. It’s so quiet you can hear the giant snowflakes hitting the ground.
#okwx
Went to doc today after having fever and cough since Tuesday. I called first and given symptoms nurse met me at my car wearing gown, gloves and mask. She did swab for flu test and I waited in car for results. Came back positive for flu A. First time I’ve been glad to have flu. 1/
A winter storm watch means there’s at least a 50% chance of a winter storm occurring.
It also means there’s a 100% chance some people will be irrationally angry when they don’t get snow.
#okwx
My guaranteed accurate Oklahoma snow forecast:
1 - many will hope it snows;
2 - most will not get what they were hoping for;
3 - many will be irrationally angry at forecasters.
Be kind to your meteorologists. This isn't easy and they are working hard to give you good info.
#okwx
Damage survey around Laverne today. Found EF3 damage right on the Beaver-Ellis county line. Tornado was over 8/10 mile wide at times. Thankfully it dissipated 6 miles SW of Laverne.
Got to see some of those giant hailstones from Friday night’s storm in Burkburnett. No doubt they were smaller than they had been when they first fell, but still impressive. The largest as far as we know was 5.33 inches, but it’s likely there were multiple 5 inch+ stones in town.
Remember it will take a while - days in some cases - for NWS to survey all the damage to determine the number of tornadoes and their intensity. These surveys will involve dozens of staff members from multiple NWS offices driving hundreds of miles in challenging conditions.
It's been ten years since the historic May 31, 2013 El Reno tornado and the tragic loss of Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras and Carl Young who died in the tornado that day. As we reflect back on that day, we also remember the other 18 people who died in the tornado and flash floods.
Schools have it almost as bad as weather people. You get criticized for closing too soon and criticized for waiting too late to close. Lots of factors go into these very tough decisions.
If you're not in a severe wx risk area today, please do not use NWSChat. Don't log into your local chat room or any other office's. We need to help ensure that NWS offices, emergency managers and media in the threat areas can use NWSChat today and tonight. Thank you.
Follow
@NWSNorman
for updates today. A couple of key messages: 1) most people will not see a storm, but if you do, it will probably be very bad; 2) the tornado potential will go UP after dark. Do not get in your vehicle this afternoon without checking the weather first!
#okwx
With the official release of
@Twistersmovie
today, NOAA, NSSL and NWS have teamed up to create a great resource with information about the reality of the science of tornadoes. Visit and check out all the great resources.
#twistersmovie
#TwistersNOAA
Oklahoma had 102 tornadoes in May 2019. This is a new record (old record was 91 in May 2010). So far for the year the state has seen 133 tornadoes. That ranks
#2
behind 1999, which had 145 tornadoes for the year.
#okwx
I never envy school systems having to make closing decisions. If they don’t decide early enough, they get criticized. If they decide based on a forecast that turns out to not be exactly right they get criticized.
Jo’s dad tells her it’s going to be an F5 as they run to the shelter at the beginning of Twister. That would have been two years before the Fujita scale had even been invented.
#MrTornadoPBS
Lots of very appropriate posts remembering the tragic loss of Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras and Carl Young who died in the 5/31/2013 El Reno tornado. But we should not forget the other 18 people who died in storms that day.
Anticipatory fatigue: condition associated with focusing on the details of an upcoming weather event for days and days, and then being mentally drained by the time it actually happens.
#okwx
A thread about last night's hail storm in Norman. Always interesting to hear all the "it struck without warning" commentary after a big storm. And most of the time, it's not that there was no warning, it's that the person commenting didn't get the warning. 1/7
Seeing a few of the "guess nothing's going to happen" and "bust" comments. If you're saying that you have not been paying attention. Forecast said heaviest snow afternoon/evening. Several more hours of snow to come.
#okwx
Remember, sirens are OUTDOOR warning devices. They are typically not designed to be heard inside buildings and are not intended to be able to wake someone up. Everyone needs multiple NON-SIREN ways to get life saving warnings, even when you’re asleep or lose power.
Today we remember 21 people who died on May 31, 2013. Eight people - including a 17 day old infant - were killed in vehicles by the El Reno tornado. Thirteen people - including eight children - died in flooding. Twelve of those were sheltering from the tornado in culverts.
Conditional: subject to, implying, or dependent upon a condition.
Tuesday's severe weather potential is HIGHLY conditional, and the condition is that we see storms form at all.
Interesting stat: 2018 is the first year since 2006 with zero tornado deaths in Oklahoma. The streak from 2007 through 2017 with at least 1 death each year was the longest on record.
#okwx
This is the definition of decision support services. Meteorologists don’t get enough credit when they get it right, and this is a great success story. Good call
@OUemergencyprep
@OU_Football
@LincolnRiley
!!
Not speaking for any other NWS office, but as surveys are ongoing today across the SE, I wanted to share this info on why it seems to take so long to do NWS damage surveys. Everyone works hard to get info out as quickly as possible, so be patient.
Pics this morning from Briarwood Elementary, Plaza Towers Elementary and what used to be Moore Medical Center. I visit these three places every May 20th to remember all the lives that were changed forever on that day in 2013.
Things to remember about winter storm forecasts -
#9
: Anyone can post an image of a computer model’s snow forecast. That doesn’t make it accurate or reliable. Choose your information sources wisely and don’t blindly share forecasts with big numbers from unreliable sources.
The HRRR continues to greatly underestimate the moisture return, and we will have to watch closely to see what impact this will have on initiation locations, storm mode, timing and tornado potential. If deeper moisture makes it to the dry line, could be trouble.
You know that thing that happens with every winter storm, where people don't pay attention to the forecast and wake up expecting to see snow, and think the forecast is wrong when they don't. Can we not do that this time?
#okwx
I’m working hard - with some success - to not let the negative forecast comments bother me. I’ve probably typed a dozen or more replies to negative/ignorant FB comments and tweets today and then deleted before sending them.
I don’t think we can beat people over the head any more than we have about the coming cold front. It always make me think about the people who were here when there were no forecasts, and reminds me of this email from 2011.
#okwx
I try not to tweet about daily inconveniences, but this experience has been insane.
For the last 7+ hours, I've been stuck in my car, not moving, in a total shutdown of I-95 northbound about 30 miles south of DC. (1)
I wish we had a tool to communicate with all of our partners to let them know that the main tool we use to communicate with all of our partners is broken.
A quick reminder that population is not supposed to be a factor when deciding whether to issue a tornado emergency. I see lots of mentions of "populated areas" "population centers" etc, and that shouldn't really be a consideration.
Just saw the first mention of the O word for next week. Please. Can we not just talk about the risk of severe weather without using what's really a meaningless term that just freaks people out?