Friday, January 12, 2007

 

We interrupt our regular programming, 'Mama ER Watch,' for a special weather statement from Oklahoma City's KFOR-TV Channel 4 ...

"The roads suck! They just suck!"

-- young reporter doing a stand-up on an icy street. Here's hoping he doesn't get in too much trouble for that.

Actual, official weather statement in the first comment.

--ER

Comments:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
944 AM CST FRI JAN 12 2007

...MAJOR ICE STORM UNDERWAY...

.ARCTIC AIR...GULF MOISTURE...AND A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM
WILL COMBINE TO PRODUCE TREACHEROUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS OVER
THE SOUTHERN PLAINS THROUGH THIS WEEKEND. FREEZING DRIZZLE AND
RAIN HAS ALREADY BEGUN THIS MORNING ACROSS PARTS OF THE AREA.
PERIODS OF FREEZING RAIN WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND
CAUSING HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS AND ICING OF TREES AND POWER
LINES WHICH COULD LEAD TO POWER OUTAGES. SLEET MAY ALSO MIX WITH
THE FREEZING RAIN IN SOME AREAS. PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO END
SUNDAY.

OKZ004-005-009-010-043-047-048-050>052-122345-
/O.CON.KOUN.IS.W.0001.070113T0000Z-070115T0000Z/
HARPER-WOODS-ELLIS-WOODWARD-COAL-JOHNSTON-ATOKA-LOVE-MARSHALL-
BRYAN-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...BUFFALO...ALVA...ARNETT...WOODWARD...
COALGATE...TISHOMINGO...ATOKA...MARIETTA...MADILL...DURANT
944 AM CST FRI JAN 12 2007

...ICE STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO
6 PM CST SUNDAY...

IN NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA... PERIODS OF FREEZING RAIN THIS WEEKEND MAY
LEAD TO ICE ACCUMULATIONS OF A HALF AN INCH OR LESS. FREEZING RAIN
MAY MIX WITH OR CHANGE OVER TO LIGHT SLEET AND SNOW SATURDAY NIGHT
AND SUNDAY BEFORE ENDING. ALTHOUGH UP TO ONE-QUARTER INCH OF ICE
ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE...1 TO 3 INCHES OF SLEET AND SNOW MAY
OCCUR LATE SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. THE WINTER
PRECIPITATION WILL LEAD TO HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS ALONG WITH
ICING OF TREES AND POWER LINES WHICH COULD LEAD TO POWER OUTAGES.

IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA... TEMPERATURES WILL QUICKLY FALL BELOW
FREEZING TODAY AS A COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. RAIN
WILL LIKELY CHANGE OVER TO FREEZING RAIN THIS EVENING. ICING WILL
INITIALLY OCCUR ON ELEVATED SURFACES SUCH AS BRIDGES AND
OVERPASSES... AND POWER LINES. PERIODS OF FREEZING RAIN WILL BE
POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS WEEKEND. TOTAL ICE ACCUMULATIONS OF ONE HALF
INCH TO ONE AND A HALF INCHES WILL BE LIKELY BY LATE SUNDAY. ICE
ACCUMULATIONS AND WINDS WILL LIKELY LEAD TO SNAPPED POWER LINES
AND FALLING TREE BRANCHES. THIS MAY RESULT IN EXTENDED POWER
OUTAGES IN SOME AREAS.

AN ICE STORM WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL MAKE
TRAVEL DANGEROUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. TRAVEL IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED.
COMMERCE WILL LIKELY BE SEVERELY IMPACTED. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...
KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT...FOOD...AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN
CASE OF AN EMERGENCY. ICE ACCUMULATIONS AND WINDS WILL LIKELY LEAD
TO SNAPPED POWER LINES AND FALLING TREE BRANCHES THAT ADD TO THE
DANGER.

$$








--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
944 AM CST FRI JAN 12 2007

...MAJOR ICE STORM UNDERWAY...

.ARCTIC AIR...GULF MOISTURE...AND A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM
WILL COMBINE TO PRODUCE TREACHEROUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS OVER
THE SOUTHERN PLAINS THROUGH THIS WEEKEND. FREEZING DRIZZLE AND
RAIN HAS ALREADY BEGUN THIS MORNING ACROSS PARTS OF THE AREA.
PERIODS OF FREEZING RAIN WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND
CAUSING HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS AND ICING OF TREES AND POWER
LINES WHICH COULD LEAD TO POWER OUTAGES. SLEET MAY ALSO MIX WITH
THE FREEZING RAIN IN SOME AREAS. PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO END
SUNDAY.

OKZ006>008-011>013-015>018-022-122345-
/O.CON.KOUN.IS.W.0001.070113T0000Z-070115T0000Z/
/O.CON.KOUN.ZR.Y.0001.000000T0000Z-070113T0000Z/
ALFALFA-GRANT-KAY-MAJOR-GARFIELD-NOBLE-DEWEY-CUSTER-BLAINE-
KINGFISHER-WASHITA-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CHEROKEE...MEDFORD...PONCA CITY...
FAIRVIEW...ENID...PERRY...TALOGA...WEATHERFORD...CLINTON...
WATONGA...KINGFISHER...CORDELL
944 AM CST FRI JAN 12 2007

...ICE STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO
6 PM CST SUNDAY...
...FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS
AFTERNOON...

SCATTERED FREEZING RAIN SHOWERS AND FREEZING DRIZZLE WILL OCCUR
ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL AND CENTRAL OKLAHOMA TODAY. ICE
ACCUMULATIONS OF ONE-TENTH OF AN INCH OR LESS MAY OCCUR TODAY...
WHICH COULD LEAD TO ICING ON ELEVATED SURFACES AND SLICK SPOTS ON
ROADWAYS. THUS...A FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR
TODAY.

PERIODS OF HEAVIER PRECIPITATION WILL LIKELY OCCUR TONIGHT
THROUGH SUNDAY... MAINLY IN THE FORM OF FREEZING RAIN. HOWEVER...
SOME SLEET AND SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY.
TOTAL ICE ACCUMULATIONS OF A QUARTER OF AN INCH TO A HALF AN INCH
IS POSSIBLE BY LATE SUNDAY.

AN ICE STORM WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL MAKE
TRAVEL DANGEROUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. TRAVEL IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED.
COMMERCE WILL LIKELY BE SEVERELY IMPACTED. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...
KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT...FOOD...AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN
CASE OF AN EMERGENCY. ICE ACCUMULATIONS AND WINDS WILL LIKELY
LEAD TO SNAPPED POWER LINES AND FALLING TREE BRANCHES THAT ADD TO
THE DANGER.

A FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF FREEZING RAIN OR
FREEZING DRIZZLE WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR
SLIPPERY ROADS. SLOW DOWN AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

$$
 
What are the little dollar signs for?
 
I guess it's the weather services's version of "30."
 
Uh, sorry for the duplicate up there.
 
We won't get ice, but we've got a lot of cold coming our way, too. The farmers are jumping today to get their fields and orchards bundled up for tonight. Snow is supposed to be down to the 1000' level. Maybe I'll have some in my front yard in the morning. :)
 
I've had friends calling me all day asking "WHAT DO I DO?"

Well, I say to them, ya shoulda stayed home like me. I'm in for the duration. Don't expect to cross the threshhold until Tuesday if I can help it.
 
Frenzied, do they use smudge pots in the orchards? That's what they do for the peach orchard in a town I know of in northwest Texas.
 
Smudge pots -- man that brought back memories from the olden days. Are you old enough to remember when they used smudge pots as caution devices before the orange blinky lights on barrels? I always thought they were bombs just waiting to blow up!
 
That is before my time, ma'am.

Hee.
 
Smudge pots, used to fill them up with diesle and keep them lit over the week end when I help build I-44 into SW Oklahoma.

When we have one of these Arctic/Gulf air fed storms I begin to understand why even most of the Indian tribes didn't want to live here and left the place unsettled.

Watched a sand truck slip sideways today. Not good.

So far no freezing rain combined with wind to kill the power lines, just sleet. Was it 1998 that OKC had power out for 5 days? My home heating does not require electricity so we just put the food in the refrigerator outside and used oil lamps for light. The rest of my nieghborhood diappeared into relatives homes, hotels, etc.

ER, Trixie et. al. stay safe. ER remember 4WD means NOTHING on ice unless you have studs in the tires.
 
Yes, I've seen smudge pots still in use. There's one orchard nearby that has windmill-type fans that I guess are supposed to spread the warm air over a larger area.

Something you might find interesting, which I'd not heard of before, was one farmer with orchards bring interviewed on the radio, said they were going to build bonfires around the orchard to try to create their own inversion layer. Pretty dang inventive. :)
 
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