Last night was quite a night. A wide path up from Texas, into Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, was filled with multiple supercells of thunderstorms that produced many tornadoes while also causing a lot of flash flooding. What made this entire situation worse was that this was mainly occurring after dark! So you can’t even watch to see if something may be heading your way. Some of the tornadoes were hidden behind a wall of severe thunderstorms with low dense clouds, so even before it was completely dark out, you still couldn’t see some of the tornadoes!
When we checked in at the Winstar Casino RV park on Friday, April 26, the lady handed me a card and calmly said, “This will get you into the bathroom in case you need to take shelter.” (Winds were already 17 and gusting to 28+.) “Is that likely?” I asked. “Do you have a siren of some sort that sounds so we know we need to take cover?” NO –they didn’t! She told me that they would come around and notify us. Really? They actually come and knock on everyone’s door? After we parked at our site I looked around and I wondered, where do they start? Would we be towards the first to be notified or the last? How many employees are available for that? Surely, they’d have a more efficient system here in Oklahoma!
The wind and wind gusts have been crazy since we arrived on Friday. We pulled our full wall slide in shortly after setting up when it was evident the winds and wind gusts were going to continue the entire afternoon and into the night. We didn’t mind. We need to get used to a little smaller quarters if we’re going to downsize RVs in the near future.
SATURDAY:
We pulled our two passenger side slides due to the winds and wind gusts predicted with a front bringing nasty thunderstorms with hail and possible tornadoes. About 2:30 PM we saw the storm front moved quicker north first, and then continued on a NE direction which meant the direct hit was missing us! Yea! We experienced 25-30mph sustained gusts with a few stronger gusts up to 50mph. Glad we brought the rest of the slides in. It is really cozy inside now! 🙂 Glad our floor plan allows us to use everything with all slides in – including our bed. We know there is another system coming. We are checking our phones for new alerts and have the Weather Channel playing on TV for more thorough updates. The storm system we are watching doesn’t appear to be moving, but it keeps getting bigger! The radar maps on the Weather Channel has us smack dab in the dark red oval of the expected path. This is not good! Trying to not get overly concerned – at least not yet. Maybe the storm front will speed up and start going north before moving east like the previous one did. Unfortunately, this system continues to grow wider and longer! Even if it does move north there is so much of it now that it will still come our way. This supercell, or group of supercells, has its southern tip deep in Texas and extends northeast of Ft Worth area and continues up into western Oklahoma, and on into Kansas, Nebraska. It stretches all the way to the Illinois border! The expected E-NE wind direction shows it will cross right over us! CRAP!
7:07pm. We are currently under a Tornado WATCH with a tornado sighting two counties to the east of us. I don’t know if I want it to move faster or slower!?! Just please miss us! I am totally out of my comfort zone and starting to stress.
9 pm. It’s starting to rain. We continue to stay informed. About 10pm I decided to get things ready for taking shelter. I put our raincoats on the passenger chair, and put our shoes out ready for each of us to put on and get to shelter if needed.
I quickly prepared a “Grab-n-Go” bag with some bottled water and a couple protein bars. Who knows how long we may have to stay in that bathhouse. My external battery pack for my phone is fully charged, so I grabbed that and put it in my raincoat pocket. The bathhouse card has been in the pocket of my shorts the whole time! I want to prepare while I can think clearly. Once my emotions take over, I don’t function clearly and become more spastic and random.
11:14pm. A Tornado WARNING has just been issued for our county – Love County. A tornado was sited “on the ground” at or near Marietta, OK. Now it is getting a little too close for comfort! We are only about 10 miles from there. I can’t be sure if we will be in the direct path or not. But tornadoes can become quite unpredictable and make a change in direction. I am praying it will miss us completely (and so is Abby)! This isn’t even the big supercell system that we’ve been watching! Not comforting!
We decided to head to the bathhouse shelter. We’d rather go and not end up needing to be there, than later wished we had gone! Barry grabbed our two sling chairs, we each had our own phones, and I grabbed the “Grab-n-Go” bag. There were cars parked at the bathhouse. OK-looks like others are thinking the same. Glad I threw two masks in my pocket earlier in case the small bathhouses become quite crowded.
I opened the ladies door and went in. NO one is there. Really??? Not a soul! It is completely empty. That was a surprise, but heck, that’s fine with me since the place is pretty small. We set up our chairs against the inner wall as best we could. I clicked on my YouTubeTV app on my phone to have the Weather Channel’s live feed for timely updates on the tornadoes. I also pulled up the Wunderground weather App on my phone so I could keep abreast using both sources.
12:15am. The Tornado Warning is now cancelled for our county! That meant the tornado previously spotted at Marietta was no longer a threat to us. We are still under a tornado WATCH. There is also still an active severe thunderstorm warning, with possible damaging hail, and a flash flood warning. Another tornado COULD form at anytime since conditions are still conducive for one to form. Do we stay till the next front gets here and passes? Barry wants to try to get some sleep till the next system rolls in, so we are heading back to Vinny.
Barry will drive tomorrow as we head OUT of Oklahoma. I know myself well enough to know that I would not be able to get decent sleep right now. I’m too concerned about the next front arriving. I will stand “watch” till everything passes uneventfully, or till I have to wake Barry to move ASAP.
3:00am. The Tornado Watch is cancelled. All we have active at this point are the severe thunderstorms warning, and the flash flood warning. Boy, is it raining!! It’s like huge barrels just split open with force. So hard so fast. It was cool watching it out the front window. The wind gusts push the water up the street to the right as I look out, but as they starts to dissipate the water tries to flow down the road (to my left) only to be pushed back by the next gust. It was cool to watch, but the video I tried to take through the windshield would not stay focused. This park is well graded for water to flow to the many drainage areas.
4:00am…I think I can head to bed now. No new alerts have been made. The storm we are currently experiencing is just a band of yellow now on the Wunderground weather app.
4:13am. I bolt upright in bed from the loudest and longest rolling thunder I’ve heard. Was that like a train??? I know they say a tornado often sounds like a train barreling through. I immediately grabbed my phone to check for a new alert. Nothing new. Whew. OK…just sleep with this rolling thunder as best I can!
The loud rolling thunder continued around us. I checked my phone a couple more times. All was good and as this front moved on through I went soundly asleep.
I spent from 3rd grade through college and beyond in Ohio, so I grew up with the regular tornado drills in school. I experienced my fair share of tornado watches, and a number of tornado warnings, but none were close enough where we had to take shelter in our basement. I know it doesn’t quite compare to living in “tornado alley”.
I can’t imagine living with the threat and stress of tornadoes like this. Global warming sure seems to be prompting tornadoes and hurricanes to occur more often and with more severity. Weather officials were saying how tonights storm cells were unique in the complexity of the supercells. Sulpher, OK (about 45-50 miles north of us) was hit hard. Most downtown businesses were supposedly destroyed.
I prefer NOT to experience any more!
SUNDAY, April 28, 2024
Today, we happily began our journey north to leave Oklahoma, and the entire tornado-feeding plains states. But as we began heading north on Interstate 35, we hit a major slow down. It took us well over an hour to only go about 10 miles to Marietta. Why? Last night’s tornado that touched down in Marietta did significant damage to a warehouse next to the highway. Debris was hurled for a several miles! Thank goodness the highway itself was completely cleared of all debris. I can’t imagine what it must have looked like immediately after the tornado hit.
My video as we drove through the area:
Damage from the tornado that hit Marietta last night! via The weather channel:
Sad note: Saturday’s series of tornadoes in OK were deadly. 4 people lost their lives. One fatality was on I-35 from the Marietta tornado, one was in Sulphur, and two were in Holdenville. I don’t understand why ANYONE would have been driving on I-35 with the warnings that were given!
The weather service confirmed 22 tornadoes in the Norman area! Tornadoes of at least EF-3 strength slammed into Sulphur and Marietta on Saturday night, according to the weather service. An EF-3 rating indicates wind speeds of 136 mph or more.
Definitely avoid Oklahoma in April and May! I know we will. April is the month when most intense and damaging ones tend to occur. May is the month for quantity of tornadoes. Oklahoma averages 52 tornadoes a year! Well, Saturday alone put them over the halfway mark for the year!
OUR suggestion for the large casino RV park: Have a couple poles with flashing lights at the top that flash YELLOW when there is an issued tornado WATCH, turns to flashing RED when a tornado WARNING is issued, an air horn sounds when imminent danger of approach tornado to the immediate area. Surely this huge casino could afford to invest in something like that! (Although if the park is full and everyone needs shelter those 2 bathhouses would fill quickly. Heck it would have been full with everyone staying there this weekend. Maybe they were all over at the casino. Oh, well, we don’t plan to return during “tornado season” to further test it out!)
To all those traveling – especially in RVs – take warnings seriously! Always error on the side of caution and safety.
Wow, just wow! Glad you’re safe! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you both are safe.
Glad you are both safe. Since we arrived home (Davenport, IA) we’ve been in the shelter once. Darn storms! We always have a weather radio with us. Can set it for the county you’re in. Wouldn’t travel without it! Take care & stay safe!!
Wow… We tried a weather radio once and didn’t have much luck with it. Is there one you recommend? (And I’m talking with__??)
Glad you’re safe! And yes stay away from OK – April May n June. Sometime ask Bob how I feel about OK!!!
🙂 But I don’t know who this is to know WHICH Bob. LOL Kelly?