rain, rain, go away...

Got a little over 3 inches at my house in Verdigris, much more to my south & east. Also much more over at my neighbor's house in Izard County, Arkansas (see next post)..

I shot this video at 31st st & Mingo creek in Tulsa.

Finally the sun came out today!!

Storm season begins...

Well, we are officially in storm season. We had heavy rain, and a little hail in Tulsa. Also, a tornado was reported in southeast Oklahoma, near Antlers. Fortunately there were no injuries.

We are in the middle of an active pattern now. Storms are expected today, Monday, Tuesday, and possibly into Wednesday. Be sure to watch KJRH and stay up to date on the weather.

...also storms may come through at night as we are sleeping, so I would strongly suggest going to Wally-World and buying yourself a NOAA weather radio. They are simple to set alarms county by county so you can set it to go off only in your county. Mine cost 12 bucks!

Gary Shore passes away..

For those of you who have been in the Green Country area for a while will remember Gary Shore. Gary was chief meteorologist at KJRH in Tulsa for many years. Gary passed away Monday, February 25, 2008.

If memory serves me correctly, Gary was the first in Tulsa with Doppler radar. I remember his coverage of the Mannford tornado on a Sunday morning in April, 1984. Who knows how many lives that he saved on that day alone....
You know, a lot of folks are hard on TV mets. I think that is crazy. Those folks work their tails off trying to keep people safe, fending off mean & threatening phone calls & emails after a six hour or longer "marathon" on the air live when we have active tornado warnings(KEEPING PEOPLE SAFE), and do their absolute best at making the weather interesting during the ol' dog days of summer when even I could do the forecast (Hot, dry, and humid).....Usually if your favorite episode of E.R. or C.S.I. have been interrupted, the station will re-broadcast in the wee hours the next morning (teaching us to learn how to work our DVR machines), so they actually should get kickbacks for advertising DVRs and promoting them on air...

Here is a tribute to Gary on KJRH's website:
http://www.kjrh.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=f808297f-265b-4920-b086-626154e555cb

Hat's off to Gary, who will never again have to worry about bad weather.

Big storms 1-7-08!

I got to chase storms east of Tulsa Monday night. It was good to give the ol' chase gear a workout. Everything performed flawlessly and I actually was streaming live video back to the station! Here's about a minute & a half worth of lightning edited down to about 30 seconds......

I was in the KJRH studio last night, and Dan & I were talking about January outbreaks, and how rare they are....makes me wonder if we will have a January-June storm system....whew!

I didn't see anything major, just a lot of rain, some small hail, and 60-70mph winds. Thankfully, no reported tornado touchdowns in Oklahoma.

Total miles-approx. 200

Time on road-approx. 6 hours

What a shot!

Here's my latest sunrise shot--1st one from 2008. No big news from here, just glad to get out of the deep freeze that we've been in for what seems like forever. 60s & 70s coming over the weekend with a chance for severe storms on Monday......better gather my chase gear!

The sun will come out.....tomorrow........maybe

Day nine without power......VVEC says they don't know when power will be restored.....most of my neighbors now have power except for my side of the street.....

Ok, this is getting a little hard for my family. I start to wonder if we should have just taken a cruise or something (like I could afford that). Beginning to wonder about Christmas & how we will have money to pay the bills and buy the kids a little something for Christmas. We know that Christmas is not about presents, but we celebrate our Savior's birth by remembering why He had to come down here in the first place, and by giving gifts, because the best & most important Gift has already been given. Total expenses so far for keeping my family warm & fed-----about 1,200.00, give or take. But know this, we are better prepared when this happens again!

I could ramble about the problems I have had with VVEC, but it would not help the situation. What will help is what I already have, friends praying for me. I just got a message from a good friend & he said "I was just checking up on you & praying for you." Brother, you do not know how that simple statement has helped. As I thought about this message, tears welled up & I am so thankful for friends........

Maybe today will be the day that my power comes back on........

Chin up, dog!!

Day 8 without power......

My poor fat Boston Terrier is about to go crazy! It is like she's depressed. My mom's electric was turned on yesterday and she is happy. I am also happy for her as my generator gas bill was cut in half! My family & my brother & his wife all converged on mom's trees yesterday & cut limbs & trees galore! We worked for a long time piling limbs & here comes my buddy with his front end loader & scooped them all up & pushed the limbs into a big pile!! Thanks, Andy!!

...just now spoke w/ VVEC, and reported my power lines down for the bazzillionth time, and besides them acting as if it a new report every time I call in, they could not give me an ETA on my repair!! At least yesterday they said I would have power by Wednesday, and now no ETA!! They had crews working in my area both Saturday & Sunday, why couldn't they repair the lines lying across my back yard?? Maybe an hour or two to repair the forty some odd homes still dark in my addition.

...on a positive note(I really am trying to keep a good attitude during this crisis), I was able to go to church yesterday & that was refreshing. All the folks at New Life are awesome & I believe I attend the best church in the world! We had our Christmas program last night & our OnTheEdge youth group did a skit to the song Mary Did You Know and they did a great job! Hubert also put on a great program with the choir!

Well, that's all my thoughts for now. Maybe my lights will be on tonight...(I keep saying maybe today's the day).....

Day 6 without power........

I am growing tired and impatient with my electric company. I understand that the linemen and crews are doing all that they can, but I am disappointed with the administration. VVEC started with 9,000 homes without power last Monday, and I heard that on Friday that they were down to 5,000. I also heard that my house may be back on by Wednesday! And others will be dark until Dec. 23rd!!! About half of my addition is back online but I have the line down in my backyard.......
I actually got some good rest last night....about 6 hours of sleep.

It is misting/snowing right now, some call it "snizzle". I am prepared, I bought a Poulan chainsaw yesterday so I can now vent my frustration & stress out on the poor fallen trees:)

Please understand, I am extremely proud of our electric crews, especially those that came from other areas, but my rural company I am extremely dissatisfied with. Crews have been in my neighborhood, so I ask while they are out here, why can't they repair my line? What is their strategy? Most of the time, you cannot even get through to VVEC........I wonder if my bill was late would they tolerate my phone being constantly busy? Or would they simply disconnect my service?

In the dark........

Ice storm in Oklahoma!

Ok, this is the second ice storm of 2007. Aaaarrgghhh!! This time my house lost power about 5:30am, and the power company says at least 1-1/2 days.......I kept hearing trees collapse under the weight of the ice all night. We had thunderstorms with freezing rain! At least one inch of ice on trees & powerlines.......this will be interesting.......

Holiday food drive..please help!

The TV station that I chase for, KJRH in Tulsa, is hosting a food drive today, November 30. This is awesome and I appreciate the concern that KJRH has for the less fortunate....get out & donate if you can!!

http://www.kjrh.com/content/community/story.aspx?content_id=dee59761-3c97-438b-a5ac-561537611b7d

Christmas is coming...........SOON!!

I heard this on the radio yesterday:

The big guy in the red suit is cool.......but the Baby in the manger....now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!!

I thought that was way cool. People are obsessed with getting and receiving the right gift....sometimes taken to extremes like fist fighting over gifts that are in short supply. Let me tell you, the best Gift has been given many years ago, just if we could all realize that fact & do what He says (Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, & strength...AND love your neighbor as yourself)....maybe we would be spending a little more time in church and with family, and less time at the mall.........

What is important?

1.God

2.Family

3.Friends

4.The other "stuff"