Winter's last Hurrah

Old Man Winter will be rearing his hoary head again tonight, but he won't be alone.

He'll be bringing his old friends: hail, straight-line winds and tornadoes.

For the past few years . . . drought-ridden years . . . the serious weather has ventured to the east of Oklahoma. But now, it looks as if we will get the rain along with the bad stuff.

I've written about tornadoes before, just search on tornado on my blog, so this is just a reminder to be prepared. Here's a quickie picture to give you an idea of what happens.



The key here is to stay safe. I've lived in Oklahoma for most of my life and there are signs when the weather is going to be bad.

1. The night time temps are very, very warm for the time of year--oh, look, last night it was 70 degrees outside. NOT a good sign.
2. A cold front is pushing through from the north east--currently, Denver is getting snow. Another bad sign.
3.  Warm, moist air is being drawn up from the Gulf of Mexico--see #1

Yeah, it's going to be a rough one.

 

If you have anything outside that you want to keep, put it in a place where the wind won't blow it away. I'm talking anything--wind chimes and yard art are some of the things I'll take down. One year, we had straight-line winds blow our heavy cast iron furniture into the pool. I'll also remove the potted plants that are on the porch railing, and I'll soak all my plants to keep them from being blown over.

 

Outside taken care of, now it's time to keep you safe inside.

 

Find the center of your house. The smallest room with no windows. It might be a closet or a bathroom. We have three locations that would work: small bathroom, hall closet, and laundry room. Prepare it with flashlight and radio--check to make sure your batteries are still working. We also take the couch cushions and place in there. Reading material. It can get pretty boring in there with the fuzzy critters.

 

And this is a biggie--always wear shoes. If the winds start blowing, glass will break.

 

We usually keep the television on to see the direction the storm cells will be going. Our four main TV stations have some excellent meteorologists who track the storms.

 

And keep your "eye on the sky". Look for weird clouds--anvils or thunderheads. And when it gets calm, eerie and greenish--take cover!

 

Later, Peeps!