The SPC's Convective Outlook updates regularly. This morning's latest update has a High Risk (the highest of the SPC's six categories) area over a significant portion of Northwestern OK. We do not see them use the "High" category all that often in any given year. Expected storm timing is a bit earlier today than it was a couple of days ago---with storms expected to start firing up out west as early as 2 pm.

Here's this morning's update:

SPC's Convective Outlook Update from Thursday Morning

Those of us not in NW OK still are in other various risk categories, with all the usual severe categories in play---tornadoes, strong winds and hail.

For those who follow Dr. Greg Forbes and his TorCon index, he has a 5 for about half (the western half) of the state today and a 3 for the eastern third of the state in the overnight hours as the storms move eastward.

I'm sure the OK media is going to be all over this story all day long, and I hope everyone is paying attention and has their safety plan in action. I guess I'll move the new garden furniture from the garden to the garage for safekeeping and open up the tornado shelter and air it out.

From a gardening perspective, this is a horrible time of the year for big hail to occur, and there's not a lot we can do to protect our plants if hail comes our way. In many gardens, plants are far too tall and too large to cover up now.

Please stay safe everyone and check in to let us know you're okay after the severe weather has passed through your area.

Tomorrow could be a bad day as well, but today's weather has to occur first so they can see what shape that leaves the atmosphere in after the storms occur before they pin down the risk more accurately for tomorrow.

Dr. Forbes has raised the TorCon for NW OK northeastward thru the Wichita, KS, area from a 5 to a 7 and TWC says he may raise it again later today depending on how the different elements come into place. Damon Lane said this about the weather expected later today: "Bad...bad, bad, bad." That's 4 bads. Uh oh.

Everyone keep an eye on your weather. We aren't supposed to have it reach our part of our county until 8 pm or later, but it could reach the far western portions of our county as early as 4 pm.

I just harvested all the peppers that were near their mature size, and cucumbers, squash and the tomatoes breaking color as well. I'm not leaving anything out there for hail to pound if it is large enough to harvest and use now. I might put hoops and bird netting over the bush beans because I don't think they're too tall for the hoops yet. Everything else probably is too tall to cover.

Now, Dr. Forbes has raised the 7 to an 8.

Good grief. I stood last night debating on "to hoop or not to hoop" the tomato and pepper beds. I wish I had just done it. Thanks to our Bruce, I've got enough hoops for all three of my raised beds. I'm hoping to get home in time to get them up today. Sounds like we're going to be in a similar situation tomorrow too.

I know, Paula. I intended to at least hoop the beans, but the heat drove me inside before I could get it done. When our heat index hit 93, I began melting and came indoors. The older I get, the more of a hot weather wimp I am. I'll run back out later and try to hoop the beans. I think everything else likely is too tall. I hope you get home in time to cover up whatever you can.

It has begun, y'all. The first Tornado Watch of the day is up for western OK and portions of western North Texas, and it is a Particularly Dangerous Situation Watch. They only issue PDS watches for approximately 15% of all Tornado Watches issued. With a PDS watch, the hazards they are warning of include: hail to 4", wind gusts to 70 mph, and possibility of strong, long-tracked tornadoes.

Stay safe everyone. Prayers that nothing severe populates.

They just confirmed a tornado N of Duke moving NE.

The Particularly Dangerous Situation Tornado Watch has now been expanded to include more counties, including the counties along the I-35 corridor.

Looks like many/even most of us are going to get it, . . watching my new favorite program. . . the weather radar. My hopes for all to come through unscathed.

Everything has gone beside or around us, and I'm not complaining. Counties next to us to the west and north have had some severe, but we've been high and dry (and hot and humid) all day long. I just hope some rain falls sooner or later...hopefully sooner. I won't be offended if hail, tornadoes and strong winds miss us.

We've got a GroupMe app for all the emergency personnel in our county to share info and news, including those in the EOC and those doing storm spotting at times like this, and there just isn't a lot going on---people are watching and watching and watching, and not finding much in our county to see. I find it hard to think this is a negative thing. In some cases, some portions of our county adjacent to the counties having severe weather may have opened tornado shelters or whatever, but not because anything was happening here.

It seems like western OK had lots of tornadoes this afternoon and evening mostly out in rural areas where they seemed to have not hit very much, and now the threat seems to be more along the lines of high wind, hail, etc.....at least down here. I haven't been watching the weather up in central or NE OK tonight. I'm over it. I just want rain. I want to wake up to find puddles on the ground and water in the rain gauge. I can't believe it all will miss us again.

I don't think my rain gauge will show much for this storm. All the rain was sideways.

Getting heavy rain and lots of lightning. They said this storm had strong winds earlier, but so far not getting that.

Yes, Dawn. I just told GDW this is one storm I wouldn't mind missing. We'll see, just beginning here.

Hope everyone is okay. The storm has passed through here, and we didn't get any of the ugly weather that was all around us. We got almost an inch of rain, which I am thankful for. The last three months has only brought us 2.3 inches, so I'm just glad the rain didn't miss us this time.

Michelle

Looks like Tulsa and Shawnee have been getting hammered, too. So far not much here.

Nancy, you've got quite a storm coming your way. Hunker down.

Hunkering. . . how are YOU doing?

Tornado warning for Wagoner! Be safe Nancy!

Thx Amy. . . don't like the look of the straight right side of the red blob on radar. . . oh well. . . all's good no matter what the weather decides to do, right?

OK here Nancy. Can't check the garden until tomorrow, though.

Nancy, Stay safe! I hope you have a good place to shelter and I hope the storm misses your place.

Rebecca, I hope the sideways rain ran into the fence and then fell down onto any of your plants that needed rain.

Michelle, I'm so glad you got rain.

Amy, I see you're watching out for everyone! This has turned into a long night with a lot more severe thunderstorm activity than tornadoes, and I guess that's good, though still damaging.

Does anyone know if Moore and Norman got their power back? I hate to think of our friends there sitting in the dark in this sort of weather.

Rain is kinda headed our way, but right now it is hailing (mixed, from dime to quarter size) in western Love County and I'm hoping our friends out that way are not taking too much of a pounding. I'm also hoping the rain keeps coming east and that the hail disappears or misses us.

I just got a phone message---Severe Thunderstorm Warning. Here it comes, I guess, and hopefully that should be all for us for tonight.

Friends of ours in Wise County, TX, aren't getting the rain but suddenly got HIgh Winds in the 60-70 mph range at their place and then the NWS issued them a high wind warning. You'd think some rain would have blown in with that wind.

Dawn

Channel 2 reporting a possible tornado over Wagoner. Check in when you can Nancy!

Wind and or tornado around Tahlequah.

We're fine. . . sirens were going off, but nothing scary. Lots of lightning and wind. . . I'm concerned about George and Dorothy now. Just rain now.

We are Tornado Warned for a portion of our county through 1130pm---but not including our community. It is going north of us.

I hope Nancy and Garry are okay.

Nancy, You and I were typing about the same time. Glad y'all are okay.

Dawn

Glad ya'll checked in. I came to see. I hope George and Ron and friends are okay.

Glad everyone is ok. Edmond just got a bit of rain but that's about it.. nothing close to what was originally forecast of course, but no complaints here.

What a beautiful thing. . . having all you great people across the state, who are my wonderful community now in a new state. And I'm watching weather blow across us all and thinking of LoneJack and Kim and all of the rest of you all the way across the state, and hoping and praying all is good with all of you. My life just gets better every day, getting to know and care about you all. I have found my peeps!!! Love and blessings to you all.

Although OK is famous for tornadoes, tornado alley ran right up through Kansas and Missouri and right on through Minnesota, where I lived for 30 years. . . and where we dashed for the basement more than a few times. My son and DIL and grandbabes always lived near me. . .like maybe either next door or at most 1/2 mile away. Every time a tornado warning came, we'd check in by phone. And often, our phone calls went like this: "Mom, do ya think we need to head to the basement.?" Me: "Maybe, not sure." Me then calling them, "Is the school sending kids to the shelter?" One time, Wade called me and asked, "Hey-- are you going to the basement?" And me saying, "Hell yes" and then the phone cut off. LOL. THAT was scary. . . the proverbial silence, then the sound of the train roar. I'd grabbed the cat and was down in the basement. Had no idea what was happening up there, but turned out ok. . . trees down everywhere in the city and in our neighborhood; some houses torn up. Electricity was out 5 days. (Those kind of events happened 3 different times. . .but before the 2nd and 3rd times we had generators , ,)

But the point to this is that now here, I have a family, too. Where we are checking on each other, It's gold, Bless you all,

What about the odds on that? Scary! I've lived here all my life, but ... never mind .. not gonna jinx it. Law of probabilities and all that.... I'm glad everything ended up okay for you during those times! That silence on the other end of the phone would have devasted me! NOOooo! And i've never heard a train roar. Don't want too.

I've heard something like it from the bowels of Hades, tho. During one of the big earthquakes. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNc. Most horrid sound eva right before the house shook so bad I couldn't see, because I was being shaken so hard my eyes were rolling around in my head.

I gardened between showers today. True story. Rain. Cloudy. No rain. Scratched up bermuda grass from a new site. Slight rain. Stop. No rain, but cloudy. Got back out and dug some more. Now, rain, thunder, lightening and more rain. My peppers were JUST perking up, too Tomatoes were really taking off and blooming (but something has been eating the blooms) ... and now more rain. Oh well.

It'd be alright if Dawn got some rain, too. But NOPE, not that I can tell.

I should be sleeping. I've work to do tomorrow, but that noise pollution outside. I think Moses is parting the waters over main street.

bon

Sounds like it was a rough night for a lot of people in the plain states and it appears like it is going to be another rough day today. TWC had several images of tornados in OK and KS this morning. We had some very heavy rain overnight in the wee hours but nothing severe here in the KC area.

I imagine Dawn is sleeping now since she was up late and posting until midnite. There is a pretty strong looking storm system tracking thru NC Texas heading right for Love county now. I think her phone may be waking her up early this morning.

We are currently in a lull until the lunch hour when things start to heat up and more storms start to develop. I have a vet appointment at 11:30 to take my oldest lab in to have him put down. His hips have been deteriorating slowly over the last few months and it is to the point that he struggles to stand up and can no longer climb stairs. It's time to end his pain but I'm going to miss Rocket.

Stay safe everyone!

Looked scary last night, in Muskogee, where I am for the Oklahoma Bike Summit. Here are aftermath pictures:

LoneJack, I'm so sorry about Rocket. Such a hard thing to do, but even harder watching them struggle with pain.

Our power came back on at 4:22. I knew they were next door working on it because the dogs couldn't get settled.

Hope everyone is okay. I haven't turned on the news yet to see exactly what happened where last night. I'm still in bed, but gotta get up.

Everyone hold on 'cause I think we are supposed to have another crazy night. And with alll the school activities that are scheduled...

it's going to be an anxious sort of day.

Lone Jack, I have to start with you because you and Rocket are on my mind and in my heart this morning. When I read that you will be headed to the vet to give Rocket the ultimate gift of letting him go so that he no longer lives in pain, my pet-loving heart broke into a million pieces. How lucky you have been to have Rocket and how lucky he has been to have you. I know how hard it is to do this, and I also know that someday Rocket will be waiting for you at the Rainbow Bridge. I believe that a pet we love never really leaves us because they become a part of us, and we always will have the memories of them too....but that does not make saying good-bye to Rocket any easier. I am sending you lots of love and hugs this morning.

Nancy, You know, you'd think we'd be used to these twisters---but nothing provokes fear in my heart more than a Tornado Warning. On the other hand, that sort of fear is good and life-saving, and we all must remember to never become overly complacent and assume a tornado will slide by and miss us.

We didn't have a Tornado Shelter when we first moved here....and we had lived here maybe a month when OKC got hit by the horrific May 3, 1999, a tornado so awful that even some people inside their tornado shelters did not survive. Before the 2000 tornado season arrived, we had a tornado shelter and I'm grateful to have it. Back then, there weren't many shelters or safe rooms in our neighborhood, so people would come here to shelter. Now, most homes have either an in-ground shelter just a few feet from their homes or a built-in safe room, and we don't even really get hit down here that often--but many parts of OK do, so it seems better to be safe than sorry. We often are tornado warning, but those twisters tend to fly over and not touch down, for which we feel extemely lucky. I think our last big tornado that hit our county was in 2003. Perhaps that means we're overdue, so we always remain vigilant.

Bon, You're right. Not. A. Drop. Of. Rain. Here. It is crazy the way that the rain keeps missing us. When the tornadic rotation on radar was first spotted over our county last night, I wasn't worried. I knew it would miss us because it was bringing rain. Of course, the gardener in me was scared it would hit us because it was bringing hail. It traveled across almost the entire east-west length of our county as an airborne rotation that did not touch down, and was about 8 miles north of us by the time it crossed I-35. We had two back-to-back warnings for our county and our spotter network was in place relaying regular reports. It is awesome to watch the system work.

We are supposed to get heavy rain tonight. We'd better get it. Things are getting desperate here in terms of low moisture. We had a wind-whipped grassfire in northwestern Love County yesterday afternoon and if we don't get some good rainfall, we're going to start having more and more of them. For May, that is just unreal. If ever there is a month when we are wet and green, it is May.

Moni, It would have been frightening to be there in Muskogee last night. I was watching on radar and was horrified by how large the warned area was at times. I'm glad you're okay.

Let's hope everyone checks in here today. Meanwhile, I'll start today's new storm thread separately so we can watch the weather unfold today.

Also, let's never forget that it only takes one storm touching down in one place to turn a day of narrow escapes into a horrible day.

Dawn

Thanks Hazel. We waited a little too long when our last lab's (Smokey) hips went out and I ended up having to carry him into the vet to be put down. I don't want to do that again with Rocket.

There are a lot of graduations going on this weekend around here. Hopefully the bad weather clears out of the plains before the ceremonies start. Here they are calling for the weather to clear out by early Saturday morning and then a nice cool spell for the next week with some lows dipping into the 40s! Perfect weather for my cool season veggies to finish up!

Dawn - Thank you for the kind words and thoughts. We have a little pet cemetery on our property where 4 cats, 3 dogs, a ferret, and a couple favorite chickens/roosters have been buried over the years. I'm not looking forward to digging another hole today but having them resting close to home helps to keep their memory alive.

Condolences, Lone Jack. Sorry you got no rain, Dawn. I hope we all have the weather we need, without the violent weather.

Lone Jack, We have a little pet cemetery too. I suppose that is one of the benefits of rural living---you have room to bury your own pets.

I hope y'all get through the weekend graduations without severe weather.

Amy, Thanks. I walked outside this morning, like all gardeners, with a mental list of things I'd do today. I looked at the sky, felt the air, and knew it would be raining before I made it back indoors from feeding/watering the poultry and letting them out to free-range. Sure enough, as I came indoors the first raindrops were fallning here.

We aren't getting a big downpour---that is forecast for overnight. We are getting soft, gentle raindrops falling lightly but steadily. If it keeps up all morning, maybe we'll get a quarter-inch or something.

Chris was headed to Lowe's (in Ardmore) to get something for the house he is building (painfully slowly, but he is building it). He got to Marietta and the rain was pouring down and he turned around and came back home. He said the rain was so heavy he didn't even want to drive in it. (He just worked a 24-hour shift and was busy, so I think he probably should be trying to sleep today anyway.) I admit to being envious of the town's heavy rainfall, but deep in my heart, I am glad we are getting a slow, steady soaking rain first because I think it is better for the ground to get wet now so that tonight's heavy rain might soak in more instead of all running off.

I hope we all get cooler temperatures and wonderful rain with no severe anything.

Dawn

Hoping the sugar snaps aren't a casualty of the storm. Our handyman will come this weekend to cut it up and haul it off, but maybe I can get in there with my clippers before then and see what the damage is.

Only about 3/4" in the rain gauge, from 3 storms, but I'm sure we got more, it just doesn't get into the rain gauge going sideways.

LoneJack, I commend you for being a tender, yet, brave man. This is a rare quality and your dog is truly blessed to have had your care.

Dawn, I'm happy to hear you got wet.

Rebecca, I did an assessment this morning. There are 4 limbs on very big trees (one of them had three) that are not fallen but are twisted and mangled while continuing to hold on to the base of the limb. Not sure what's worse; a downed limb with damages or those that won't fall off. Most of these are at the 2 story level.

I am perturbed at my husband's handling of his trees, to say the least.

LoneJack you are a kind loving man to send Rocket to the Rainbow bridge.

It's heart breaking but you hate to see them suffer.

Hugs!

Thanks to y'all for your kindness everyone.

Well Rocket is gone to the Rainbow bridge now but he went out fighting! He didn't want anything to do with having an IV put into is front leg. The vet managed to shave a spot for the IV but when it came time to insert the needle, it wasn't gonna happen so the vet gave him the sedation shot in his butt. He even fought falling asleep for 15 minutes before the vet could put him down.

We had a little ceremony for him in the cemetery and I managed to dig a hole next to Smokey's resting place for him but I had to deal with a lot of tree roots.

I sounds like y'all got a lot of rain down there...probably too much of a good thing for many.

Rebecca, Ouch. That limb was bigger than how I pictured it. I hope the plants underneath it were okay.

Bon, We got 0.12", which when added to previous rain received last week added up to 0.72". It wasn't much, but it sure was better than a big fat zero. I'm over and done with wishing for rain. It's not falling, and I'm not gonna sit around expecting it. I need to get over expecting it and wishing and hoping for it and just move on and focus on what we are getting---sunshine. lol. The Red River today is up and running like mad, thanks to all the rain that fell to our west. That's good news for Lake Texoma as it has been kinda low in recent months.

Bon, Except at my urging (and by urging I mean constant nagging for a very long period of time until he cannot ignore it any longer), my DH doesn't handle trees at all--he just waits for trees or branches to fall. It drives me nuts. I'd be more proactive if I was the chainsaw person. (Being kultzy, I want no part of the chain saw.)

Jack, RIP to Rocket. It sounds so much like he didn't want to go, and I think it is clear that he loved you so much that he would have endured more pain to stay with you longer, and (fortunately for him) you loved him so much that you would not allow him to go on enduring that pain. You're my hero for that. I hope he rests well there beside Smokey.

Everyone but me got good rain. I'm paying now for getting extraordinary rain in 2015. I know the time would come that we'd have to pay the piper. It is here. I'm not lying, though, when I say that even though we still need rain in the worst possible way, it also is a relief to not be dealing with mud, floods, washed-out roads and such. There's an upside to everything, and I guess that's the upside to not getting rain.

How's your garden doing up there?

Dawn

Dawn - My garden is doing pretty well so far with the exception of my tomatilloes that snapped off at the soil line in high winds. I'll post some pictures over in the general garden talk thread.