Friday, June 6, 2008

6-5-08 bow echo/possible tornado event..and rant...

TO: stormrider1970@sbcglobal.netFM: NWS TULSA OPERATIONSRE: RE: TORNADO WARNING for ROGERS OK. CountyTORNADO WARNING Issued 1207 AM CDT FRI JUN 6 2008Area* TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN ROGERS COUNTY IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA TULSA COUNTY IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA NORTHWESTERN WAGONER COUNTY IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMAExpire Time* UNTIL 1245 AM CDTDescription* AT 1203 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 3 MILES WEST OF BROKEN ARROW...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 66 MPH. NUMEROUS FUNNEL SIGHTINGS AND POWER FLASHES HAVE BEEN REPORTED.Cities and Calls to Action* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...TULSA... CATOOSA...VERDIGRIS...INOLA...TIAWAH AND CLAREMORE.IF YOU ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM...TAKE COVER NOW! IF NO UNDERGROUND SHELTER IS AVAILABLE MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THELOWEST FLOOR. MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR MORESUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. AVOID WINDOWS!

This is the e-mail text I recieve of severe weather warnings issued by NWS TULSA from last night....

...notice the time on the tornado warning. I was out chasing in between Claremore & Verdigris at this time. I tried to raise the Rogers County EOC vis ham radio at 12:25am and nobody answered. As I approached the I-44 turnpike gate in Claremore at 12:38am, I heard the sirens sounding BUT THE STORM WAS WELL EAST OF CLAREMORE AT THAT TIME!! My brother, who lives in Claremore, called at 12:38am and asked what was up w/ the sirens. I informed him of the situation and the fact that Claremore was in the clear, and asked him how long the sirens had been going off and he said "ABOUT THREE MINUTES"!!

So, let me see, the tornado warning was issued at 12:07am, nobody in the Rogers County EOC at 12:25am, sirens sounded at 12:35am AFTER THE DANGER HAD PASSED!!!!!! What kind of public service is that??

I apologize for my tone, but I believe the EOC should be questioned about this because this has been an ongoing problem as long as I have been spotting.chasing. thankfully I don't think a tornado touched down as I didn't see much damage but what if there had been a tornado bearing down on Claremore?? How much warning would those folks have had??

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow. That is really not good!

On the other end of the spectrum: Remember the big bow echo that came through a few days before this one, on Sunday, June 1st? (It probably started for you on Saturday night...). We had a really, really nasty-looking shelf cloud come over us at about 6:30 that morning, probably the most awesome one I've ever seen. Somewhere around the time that the leading edge had already entered the next county, someone decided to sound the tornado siren in town; there was no tornado warning. This is the first time I've known of the tornado siren to be sounded when there was no tornado warning. While I'd rather have a scary-looking cloud warning than to have a tornado warning disregarded, there are of course dangers in ringing it for no reason, too! I have heard that the sheriff did not ring the sirens in Izard Co. on the night of 2/5; maybe they thought they owed us one. I surely do not remember hearing a siren that night, but it is possible that I was just not able to hear it because of the conditions.

(By the way, cell service was out for three days here after that bow echo on the 1st, and AT&T said it was out in Oklahoma, too!)