Just a quick Tick to Tock about some of Mother Nature’s recent foolishness. As far as I can count, and I went through my fingers and toes nearly four times (I got extras just in case), our Oklahoma tornado count for April is now up to 49.
Yes, 49! Preliminary still, of course, but that puts us very close to at least tying April 2011 for second-highest April twister tally (hey, April Twister Tally was my band’s name in dog obedience school!) since accurate records began in 1950, but still behind 5 behind April 2012’s 54. And 2024’s tornadoes came over 5 days:
– April 1: 5
– April 26: 6
– April 27: 24
– April 28: 9
– April 30: 5
By strength:
EF0: 9
EF1: 29
EF2: 2
EF3: 2
EF4: 1
EFUnknown: 6
Add two tornadoes from March 14 and that gives us 51 for the year, just six behind our longterm (1950-2023) average of 57 or so. Some say 58, I say 57.
I don’t know what the heck’s going on. People keep finding tornadoes in the past, and we still have the rest of May staring us in the face! Heck, we had a May’s worth of tornadoes on April 27 alone.
And Monday is one of those days we could see those numbers go up. It’s a day that bears watching, although wouldn’t we all rather be watching bears? Or even Daaaa Bearzzzzz! It’s four days away, but this is ample time to formulate a plan for severe weather. You don’t want to be caught with your pants down (don’t search the police blotters…I’m innocent, I tell ya!).
Speaking of tornadoes, we could see very heavy rains the next couple of days, especially across SW OK.
Finally, can’t believe it’s been 25 years since the horrific May 3, 1999, tornado outbreak across Oklahoma that killed 40 and caused over a billion dollars of damage in the state. Here’s a detailed summary of the event from our friends at the Norman NWS office.
We don’t need anymore May 3, 1999s, we don’t WANT anymore May 3, 1999s. However, it always pays to be extra vigilant in Oklahoma during Spring. So while Monday doesn’t look like a day like that, get prepared/be prepared.
