Another race chase....

This view is of the Stillwater storm at approx 8:00pm. Driving west on the Cimarron Turnpike a couple of miles east of Hwy 18, looking southwest at a ragged wall cloud with rising scud and an occasional (possible) funnel. It was a race chase as I did not leave the house until 6:45PM. Things got a bit tense as I drove towards Hwy 18, watching this insane hail core heading towards me and trying like the dickens not to get in it!!!! We got to 18, blasted south and did get some marbles & occasional quarters, but missed the ping pong hail that later covered hwy 18! We watched with interest the wall cloud as we raced south but then the storm seemed to weaken a bit and turn back to a NE heading. It could've, should've, and would've....but it didn't put a tornado down. How's that for contractions?

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??

Tornadoes in Oklahoma!

No, this is NOT video of a tornado. If you look close, you should be able to make out the base of the storm. It put down a wall cloud for a few minutes, but that's all it could muster. This storm was tornadic in the OKC area earlier, and being the tail-end Charlie, I felt like it had potential. So, after conferring with George Flickinger, I drove southwest on I-44 as fast as I could. I did have that feeling in my gut that the north storm would be the one to be on but by that time, I was already committed and would have to punch the core of this monster after dark--not my favorite thing to do. So I followed this storm as it weakend and eventually died out west of Tulsa. I called it a night and got home about 11:00pm. with the head cold that I have, I decided that was it for me & hit the sack (with the scanner next to me) and I heard the tornado warning for Mayes county just to my east and thought.......nope, I won't do it. Turns out, Mayes county had a tornado about 2:30am on the leading edge of the squall line. Missed two in one day. I was glad that there were no fatalities in Oklahoma but as I type this, my heart is going out to our neighbors in Arkansas---6 confirmed fatalities so far today--and it's only 12:30pm!! Please pray for them as I pray for them and pray about another Mission of Compassion....

God bless.

Severe storm potential today through Monday...

This is a graphic put out by the National Weather Service in Tulsa. It depicts forecasted severe weather potential for their warning area, A.K.A. Green Country, for Monday, March 31. I don't think that I have seen a 60% probability of severe weather forecasted this far out. All I can say is, if you are a trained spotter or chaser, get your gear ready! If you aren't, please stay close to TV (channel 2 has the best coverage..and yes, I do chase for them!!) or radio and keep yourself abreast of the changing weather situation. This may be a significant severe weather event!!
Oh yeah....and get yourself a weather radio. They are about 20.00 and you can program them to alert you if there is a warning in your county while you sleep.....go on....get one!! (Wally world has them)