June 2023 - General Weather Discussion

[chssooner]

Decided to completely miss southeast OKC. Of course...as per usual.

[SEMIweather]

Tulsa Metro is getting absolutely smoked right now.

[Bunty]

Finally, a plenty decent but not too overly crazy storm came here for this dry storm season. The storm arrived in Stillwater at my location with a wind gust of up to 37 mph. Storm chaser west of town had it up to 60 mph. A tornado warning was issued for west of town but fortunately it did not continue to advance. So, the chilling sound of tornado sirens didn't have to be triggered.

The noisy blowing heavy rain from the storm was incredible. In 45 minutes, it rained 1.25" before letting up. That may not sound impressive, but it was the heaviest storm, so far, for this dryer than usual storm season. Fortunately, the storm didn't come with constant lightning or any hail. AT least 2228 out of 21803 customers lost power in town but not here.

[BG918]

Most of Tulsa is without power with significant tree/roof damage

[gjl]

1 3/4" in the rain gauges and a few stockade fence pickets laying on the ground. Lots of leaves and a few small branches from my neighbors pecan tree all over my yard. And I'm hearing chain saws running around me already this morning.

[C_M_25]

Rain chances not really showing up but longer range models are showing a nice active pattern by the end of next week. Hope that holds true!

Edit: looks like the death ridge is moving in 2 weeks from now. Going to be good times!

[C_M_25]

Tulsa got absolutely obliterated last night. Specifically, the keystone lake area. The major marinas on the lake have serious damage, camper trailers are overturned, buildings destroyed, etc. Looks like a tornado hit the place.

[Libbymin]

I was in Rogers AR last night and it stormed pretty hard on us. Driving back to OKC today saw a lot of damage in Tulsa. Downed tree limbs, torn up signs, a couple of trampolines that had been tossed right near I-44 from somewhere nearby.

[Bunty]

In Stillwater, 1108 power customers are still out as of 6pm, 6/18, down from 2288. The remaining big trouble area is at the northeast edge of town along a short stretch of Jardot St. where the wind broke power poles. It does take time to get new poles installed and equipment transferred over or replaced.

Stillwater was fortunate not to be affected by the windiest part of the storm. Just to the west and south winds gusted well into the 70's. Weather stations in town appeared to have maxed out at 44 mph. The whole thing was a remarkable squall line as it managed to maintain its strength as it traveled across the state and beyond.

[Bunty]

Power outages in Stillwater clear down to 12 as of midnight. Things were worse in Tulsa. Tulsa officials said Sunday that residents should prepare to wait “days, not hours,” for power and other services to be fully restored in the wake of the most damaging citywide weather event since a 2007 ice storm that brought the city to a near-standstill for a week.

“We are seeing damage that, when it’s all said and done, may not be quite as bad as the 2007 … ice storm, but it’s going to be close,” Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said during a Sunday morning news briefing on the “wall of wind,” as he put it, that hit the Tulsa metro at about midnight.

[shavethewhales]

That storm in Sapulpa was insane and seemed like it came out of nowhere. Very little warning until I got an emergency text about a half hour before the storm hit. I ended up losing an old bradford pear tree in my front yard, but luckily it didn't hit anything. I hate bradfords, so no big loss. Spent most of Sunday helping a lady who had a tree go through her roof in seven places though.

Town west, near the I44/I244 split also looks like a tornado hit it. Several hotels lost their roofs or had major damage. The fireworks superstore lost their massive sign. Lots of scattered damage throughout the metro. Some areas were spared while others got bombed. Downtown Tulsa is still without power, and it sounds like the total outages are still in the hundreds of thousands across the metro. One of my coworkers got an alert that said power won't be back on for everyone until approx. 6/24. This is pretty bad. We need to bury more lines!

[BG918]

This has been a devastating storm for Tulsa. The amount of tree damage is staggering and most of the city is still without power and internet. How many more of these do we need to endure before we decide to bury the overhead lines??

[BoulderSooner]

most of the city is still without power and internet.

this is simply not true .. 160k in the metro are without .. that is not "most"

[Bunty]

This has been a devastating storm for Tulsa. The amount of tree damage is staggering and most of the city is still without power and internet. How many more of these do we need to endure before we decide to bury the overhead lines??

Or replace the wooden poles with metal ones, but probably the excuse for not doing it is that it would be too costly. It wouldn't be 100% effective until they are all replaced. Anyway, I think that is the policy in some states. When wooden poles snap, replace them with metal.

[Plutonic Panda]

How many more of these do we need to endure before we decide to bury the overhead lines??

Completely agree. Street widenings and reconstruction projects should come with buried utility lines.

[BG918]

this is simply not true .. 160k in the metro are without .. that is not "most"

Should’ve said and/or internet. Many areas have power but no internet. And “most of” midtown and downtown are still without power and not expected to get restored until the end of the week.

[SEMIweather]

Still 46% of Tulsa County without power per this website: https://poweroutage.us/area/state/oklahoma

Would not be surprised if it takes 7-10 days for all electricity to be restored up there. That's about how long it took for OKC after the October 2020 ice storm which the damage from this seems to be on par with.

[Anonymous.]

Chance of another round of storms on Wednesday. Forecasting the placement is difficult, but western OK looks like a solid bet for seeing some storms. SPC has outlined Slight Risk for that region.

Latest NAM suggesting MCS developing out of KS at the same time and tracking S/SE.

[BG918]

It would be interesting to know what key ingredients came together to produce the intense squall line that moved through NE OK. The widespread damage is like nothing I’ve ever seen.

[SEMIweather]

The humidity is just brutal today. Some of the worst I can remember.

[gjl]

My phone weather app is showing 57% humidity currently, temp 94, heat index 107.

[PoliSciGuy]

Yeah my backyard weather station just hit 93 with a 105 heat index. This is insane.

[Pete]

Looks like 100+ within a week.

I'm already looking forward to the fall.

[baralheia]

Yeah my backyard weather station just hit 93 with a 105 heat index. This is insane.

Mine's showing 94°F with a heat index of 108°F. I think I'll just stay inside, sheesh

[Bunty]

Yeah my backyard weather station just hit 93 with a 105 heat index. This is insane.

It's even more hellishly worse in much of Texas. But the governor there is confident that the state's electrical grid can take it.