It's still raining!

Yep the rain is still on the plains of Okieland, in fact we didn't go to the rodeo tonight partly because of it. But we were also all too tired and just decided to stay dry at home.

It's great to have rain here in July and very unusual to have this much, but the problem is it gets into the high 90's inbetween and so it ends up very humid. I felt like I was walking through water most of today my legs were so tired, and my mum was also suffering with the heat index and humidity.

This afternoon we both ended up going to bed to sleep for a few hours and the whole time it rained! As I write this it's still coming down and yet from tomorrow we are predicted to be heading into a week of temperatures over 100's most days.

Crazy weather but great for the water bill!

Bowling, Mexican, Movie

Well we had a slight change of plans today, due to the movie theatre changing their schedule! So instead of heading into Texas we ended up going into our local town and my mum got to do something she has never done before - 10 Pin Bowling!

Once we had chosen her a suitable ball and shown her the basics of the game, she was away and scored very close to me consistently - not that it's hard to keep up with me.

We had fun, although it appears the lack of talent for bowling in our family is hereditary, as neither of us got out of the 50's! I don't think we're in any danger of being headhunted for the league anytime soon.

Even the Hubster was not on his usual good form today, but it made a pleasant change not to get an ass whooping for once! This didn't stop him taking his technique very seriously though and the level of concentration involved was intense!

After three games we headed off to eat Mexican and then followed this up with 'Hancock', which we all enjoyed.

It rained AGAIN today, in fact we had a 20 degree temperature drop from morning to afternoon. Very pleasant but also very bizarre for Oklahoma in July!

It only took a week...

for the Brit' effect to kick in on our weather.....days and days of high 90 - 100 degrees, very little rain and then my mum arrives just over a week ago.

So of course it rained most of yesterday afternoon and ALL DAY today, which is as rare as 'rocking horse poop' in this part of the country in July. I actually had to put an umbrella in my car yesterday!

Only in Oklahoma!

A week ago Sunday our town and two other local towns lost all their power for a couple of hours in the afternoon. It was quite bizarre, a perfect summers day, no wind (unusually) and no storms in the area at all. None of us could understand what had could have caused the power failure.

Later we heard that a trampoline had got into overhead power lines and caught fire, causing the massive outage! As it was a calm day we assumed it was kids messing around.

Well today I got the local paper and discovered what actually happened, and trust me you couldn't make this up. Apparently an isolated 'whirlwind' just happened to drop into the garden that had a trampoline, picked it up and threw it into the power lines!

As the Hubster commented, the chances of that happening were little or none, now they're just 'little'! Only in Oklahoma my friends :-)

Batten down the hatches fellow Okies!

I hope y'all are watching the weather or have got your weather radio's handy. It's looking more and more like we are about to have a severe weather outbreak. The TV stations are sending their spotters out our way now, but to be honest it looks like it may be past us by 4pm.

It's the rest of you I am more concerned about, as apparently the conditions are much more conducive than usual for large hail and tornadoes. Right now it's terribly windy here and starting to cloud over, but still 94 degrees which is not a good thing as y'all know!

As Rick Mitchell just said, start thinking now about where to go if it does kick-off like they think it's going to in western and central Okieland. Stay safe everyone.

Hey you Brit's reading this...

I hear it's been bucketing down over there now for a few days and last week was like winter all over again. Oh boy do I not miss the English weather ever!

Well you ought to be in Okieland my friends, here are our temps for the past 3 days:

Monday - 107 degrees
Tuesday - 98 degrees
Today - peaked at 102 degrees an hour ago
Tomorrow - predicted 98 degrees

I am sitting in my nice air-con' cooled house with all the curtains closed against the fierce sun and heat, using the lights! LOL

This is not the time for doing what most Brit's would do in this type of weather - lotioning up, lying out in it and turning into a lobster, trust me! Still nice though as we have low humidity and a breeze.

Tornado near Fort Supply Oklahoma.

This is film of the tornado that came out of the storm that crossed us Friday night and then produced this tornado 25 miles away.

It sadly destroyed three homes, two from one family and we know the owner of one of them. Luckily nobody was home except Emitt the dog and they found him uninjured. But the family from the other were trapped in their basement and had to be dug out, all okay though. The film-makers think it's "cool", I used to think that too until I moved here and have a home, family and friends I cherish!

Worn down by Watches and Warnings!

This is the fourth night in a row we are having storms and are under a tornado watch. To say it's wearing thin on me would be an understatement at this point! I have had the same small emergency bag packed since Thursday and tonight has been the worst for thunderstorms so far. We are finally getting some much needed rain, but we could do without the 50+mph straight line winds and all the lightening. 12 tornadoes have touched down in Oklahoma in the past 48 hours!

If you're in the UK reading this, trust me you have no idea what a severe thunderstorm is like unless you have ever visited the US Plains! The lightening in the UK is pathetic by comparison, but the thunderstorms do not frighten me and I often go out to watch the show, it's just the tornado threat that makes me nervous.

This is the worst continuous spell of storms we have experienced since I arrived here in 2005. I am so ready for it to be over, but looking at the radar of Texas where our weather comes from usually, it's going to be another noisy night.

Already forecasting the same risks for tomorrow, deep joy!

We're under the gun!

Well we're home after going out to eat in the next town 7 miles away. Whilst we were there the news came on and said there was a storm capable of producing a tornado right over our hometown! We got lucky and it passed over and is still heading north, with lowerings appearing frequently but so far no sighted tornado.

Now there is another storm heading in our direction but it may just skip north of us. Needless to say we're staying home!

*Update* The same storm now has put a vary large tornado down 25 mins from us in Fort Supply - DAMN it's big, we got sooo lucky tonight!

*10:50pm* About to shutdown the PC as another big storm is throwing spectacular lightening all over, not very condusive to sleep!

Here we go....Tornado Watch!

Well we are under a tornado watch until 10pm, no big deal generally except the NWS seems to think there is a pretty good chance of supercells developing and isolated tornadoes. We have a better chance for hail to the size of baseballs though and it is 89 degrees here and windy as heck, so the conditions are good.

I just got home from school and we have to go out tonight, so we're taking the Pickup in case of bad hail as it would be replaced if need be. And between now and when we leave I am going to put the VIP stuff in the cellar just in case. Send anti-tornado thoughts our way for us please.

**UPDATE** Ok it's definitely kicking off in our direction, even the Hubster has said we need to stay home and I am now running around moving stuff to the cellar - prayers please!

**UPDATE** It all slid south of us and apart from seeing some impressive lightening as we drove back from town, and the TV Storm Trackers in our town, we are all good :-)

However we are already under warning for the same tomorrow!

Summer's here!

It seems we have plunged right into summer here in NW Okieland! Yesterday it got to 99 degrees officially and it is forecast to be over 90 everyday this week. It feels especially hot as there isn't even much of a breeze to compensate.

Overnight the low was 63, a sure indication summer's here when even the nights are warm! Seems like perfect hammock weather, so seeing as school's over for me, that's where you'll find me today reading a good book with a cold drink in hand :-)

*Update* Spoke to soon, now subbing Thursday! LOL

Sod's Law.....

Today I needed to get a piccie of me outside my home with my Pickup, for a UK magazine article on my move here. And of course in this article I rave on about how fantastic it is to wake up to the sun most days and how great the weather is here.

So today of course, after days of scorching sun and being in the 80's, it's raining pretty incessantly....bloody typical!

OKC - Pam, Karla, Brad, Dee, Chellie, Kathy?

Well the weather is tornadic in central and eastern OK tonight, with tornado warnings and alot of circulation and lowerings with potential funnels. I know that PAM, BRAD & KARLA are all pretty close or in the area of the warning, not sure about CHELLIE and KATHY. Now it's all heading towards DEE in the Guthrie area as well. A tornado had just touched down north-east of Stillwater, but there is very strong rotation in OKC now and 4 supercells - it all seems to kicking off.

Just want to let you know I am thinking about you all - please stay safe and stay low.

TERESA - are you ready for tornado warnings, I may have to send you for training with Pam or Karla, they're OKC tornado experts!

Never a truer word sung.....

“OOOOk-lahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain”

Well let me tell y’all, never a truer word was sung in a lyric! I guess I should have paid more attention to this line before I allowed myself to fall hard for an Okie!

I always used to say that I loved windy days and mean it, but that was way back when I lived in that slightly breezy country, otherwise known as England. A windy day here means 40mph straight line winds, with the odd 50mph gust thrown in, and that’s a pretty normal day up here by the panhandle.

Luckily for me I have naturally messy hair being a curly-girly, because if I wanted perfectly coiffured hair I’d be in therapy by now, no exaggeration! So unlike in England where my hair was viewed as unfashionable and unsleek, here it is often admired, I am sure in part because I permanently have the ‘I just got out of bed’ look. In fact on windy days they probably think “awww you can tell she’s only been married 2.5 years” - no actually that’s just “the wind sweepin’ down the plain into my already disheveled hair” look ;-) A cowboy hat is a necessity here not a fashion statement and what’s more, nobody assumes you’re on a hen-night or gay if they see you wearing one!

And thank the lord that I have never been a girl inclined to wear skirts or dresses, because I’d have been arrested for inadvertent knicker flashing by now. You will not see me in anything but trousers unless it’s a perfectly still day, and even then you take your chances with that sudden pesky gust. Oh boy have I seen some sights in Walmart’s parking lot on gusty days and they weren’t all pretty!

Then there are the effects on your senses. You see not only is it windier than you could ever imagine here, but it’s also so dry I am beginning to think I moved to the desert. These things combined mean I don’t need a beauty salon to get micro-dermabrasion, I can just stand in my yard on a windy day and get sandblasted for free!

There are days when the whole sky is a muddy brown colour due to all the dirt flying around, no wonder this area was known as the ‘dust bowl’. It gets in your nose, throat and eyes resulting basically in an allergy effect. Yesterday it was terribly windy, so I had to remove my contact lenses by 11am because my eyes wouldn’t stop streaming and my contacts were blurred to the point where I could no longer see. Not a good thing when you’re responsible for a lot of other peoples precious little darlings! More of the same today predicted.

Luckily though I was wearing trousers and what started off as a bad hair day, turned into a good one for me, but not so good for everyone else! You see there’s always an upside, even when you’re being wind-whipped from all sides.

So consider yourself warned, that lyric is no lie, and if you ever venture into Okieland come prepared in trousers, put down the straighteners and let your hair just go with the flow!

*Last day to enter Caption Competition & win – roll down*

Why didn't I think of this before.....

WELL DUH!

If you want to really make it rain hard in NW Okieland after months of drought, I have apparently found the answer and it was so bleeding obvious....apologies to all my Okie friends for being so slow!

Raise the English flag!

After all we're known for all the rain we get all year long...LOL ;-)

You know Summers here...

when you can sit outside on your patio, and work on your laptop in short sleeves until 10:45pm at night and it's still 70 degrees!

I am not generally crazy about the raging summer heat in the day here, especially since my Graves Disease has made me less tolerant to it. But I do love the long evenings and being able to make the most of the patio until bedtime :-)

Predicted high of 88 degrees here tomorrow - PHEW!

Here comes summer...

Last night at about 10:45pm summer officially arrived in our little corner of nw Okieland. Yep I had to turn on the Air-Con when it was still 78 degrees in the house and I was beginning to slowly steam!

Right now it is in the mid' 80's as you can see, with the hottest time of day not due until 5pm. So we have now officially made the switch from heat to air-con in our house.

But this is Oklahoma and it needs to keep us on our toes at all times....so tomorrow's predicted high is 50 - almost a forty degree drop overnight. Then we are bouncing right back up into the 70's on Friday and then back into the 80's over the weekend! I tell you the weather around here is totally POTTY!

Whilst I was out in the garden I also snapped a piccie of our Lilac Bush which is now in full blom and looking gorgeous. Now I am off to spray the darned hen-bit which is taking over large area's, re-pot my tomato plants and finally paint my toes....as sandal season is here!

Yeehaw Rain at last!

You may think that header is nuts, but then you have probably had more rain than we have in the past 6 months. Little did I know I was moving to the desert when I moved here!

I kid you not - I think all we have accumulated out here in 6 months is about 3 inches and that may well be an over-estimation!

Well I woke up to distinct dampness on the pavement, although the rain guage had not moved yet, but we have a 70% chance for storms today and I already hear the distant rumbling of thunder. :-)

You may be thinking what's she smiling for - storms in tornado alley! Well most of us are beyond the point of caring anymore out here, we JUST WANT RAIN however we can get it. Having checked the NWS (National Weather Service) site though, we are at risk of flooding (big YEEHAW) and not tornadoes.

.....Off out to do a raindance in the back yard (clothed!)

09:50 UPDATE > IT's RAINING :-)

12:55 UPDATE > Just had a power outage for 2 hrs after lots of lightening, but the best news is now over a half inch of rain and it's still chucking it down :-) Off to clean whilst I have power!

THURSDAY UPDATE > Just over an inch in total :-)

Rocky tornadic night in OKC!

It's 2am and I am up watching the OKC newsfeed as all kinds of lowerings and funnels keep coming down around the OKC area!

According to our most veteran weather forecaster here, Gary England, "it's a wierd night of weather out there right now". Everything had calmed down, the tornado warnings had all expired and then quite suddenly hook echoes started appearing over the city and then wall clouds started lowering. I am watching live feeds from some very brave storm trackers and just keep hearing constant tornado sirens and reports of damage.

Right now it's very unclear as it's dark and the power is out, how strong these funnels have been and how much damage there is. There is nothing worse than rain wrapped tornado's after dark, as it makes them very hard to spot and nearly all the warnings and forecasts have to be done by some amazingly sophisticated radar.

Now I understand why the National Weather Service is based in Norman, Oklahoma....at least we have the best tornado forecasting technology in the world here.

I am fervently hoping none of my OKC blogger friends have been affected by this weather.

Brit' Gal Storm Cellar 101

When the Hubster was looking for a new home for us before I arrived, I had only one stipulation - it MUST have a storm cellar as we live in Tornado Alley.


Well as you can see he did us proud, this is entered from our garage and even has a window, just so we can watch our home fly by!

At that point I was paranoid a tornado was going to hit us, since arriving I have learned you'd be pretty unlucky to take a direct hit! My first spring here I had a permanently packed suitcase in the house, ready to make a fast exit stage left to the cellar anytime. A few times that first year we went under a tornado warning and the Hubster would just sit and calmly eat his supper (they tend to be in the evening) with a wry smile, as he watched me run around like a headless chicken packing things and piling them up in the laundry room! I don't mind telling you I would literally get so nervous I couldn't even eat and god knows what my blood pressure was hitting.

Then I went on a National Weather Service Storm Spotter course and everything changed.

I learned the weather conditions we need in place, what a wall cloud looks like, how you get a rain-free area to the rear of the cloud base, updraft towers and formations of Supercell storms. I also learned how to read the radar and even how the air would feel to me if a tornado was approaching. The result being I learned to r-e-l-a-x - just a little!

But being the sort of girl I am, always organised and with a plan as anyone who knows me will confirm, I still have the best prepared storm cellar in the area!



This is my survival shelf! We have lots of water, V8 (for me) and a selection of tinned foods, with can opener, cutlery and drinking glasses. We also have the cat food and out of sight; water bowl, prepared cat litter and pet carrier. On the shelf above this we have Kleenex, 2 oil lamps, a battery powered light and more touch lights.



On this shelf we have blankets and pillows to keep us warm and in the other bag is a small selection of clothing for us both. We won't be the ones interviewed on TV wearing our night clothes let me assure you, or living in the same clothes for days! However I do need to overhaul this bag, as everything in there for me is now way too big and may just fall off.

In other boxes we have Christmas lights and decorations, so if we're down there too long we can even decorate to cheer ourselves up!



We have seating, although we also have 2 reclining sunloungers to sleep in (like I'm going to be sleeping if a tornado is coming!), a coolbox and a nice copper fire pit we can light if we get cold! Note to the left we have more recreational opportunities in the form of painting and swimming pool maintenance :-)



This is our entrance and exit; as you can see the Hubster is in trouble and has some explaining to do. I'm not sure how he expects us to get safely down there carrying a squirming cat each and other essentials, with that bloody ladder sitting there?!

Also above is what I affectionately refer to as the 'Divorce Door'. You see this door is attached to a heavy concrete block and you pull it closed behind you as you enter. Well last year when the sirens went off, down we went, cats complaining, me hysterical as it was the first time, Hubster carrying a table (explanation to follow) and he REFUSED to pull down this outer door. So we had a good old screaming match over whether he needed to bring down the 'Divorce Door'. In fact he left me and went back to watch the TV, whilst I called my friend in the next town, who like me was in her cellar sans Hubster who was also watching the weather on TV! It was at that point Nancy and I decided we would shack up very nicely together if our respective Hubster's were blown away.

What you do not see is the other essentials I will have packed and grabbed at the last moment, assuming we have enough warning. The trusty suitcase with more clothes, jewelry that's valuable, bag of toiletries including contacts and glasses for us both so we're not blind afterwards. Both our laptops, CD carriers containing discs of all our pictures and important documents, folder with insurance information, my purse and his wallet with money, credit cards, cell phones and all important Green Card in my case.

Then there will also be a few items I would never want to lose from the house, including 3 large paintings, the quilt I made and the aforementioned small wooden table. My brother made me this when he was 17 for my 21st birthday and not only is it beautifully made but it has enormous sentimental value. Last but not least the weather radio will be carried down there.

In case you're wondering the all important passports and immigration paperwork we keep in a safety deposit box in the bank!

So there you go, that's what a Brit' Gal living in Tornado Alley deems essential in her storm cellar. If it was down to Hubster, it would be us, the cats, maybe the laptops and a bottle of water to go round!