Non Film Post: Severe Weather

Many have asked "how bad is it gonna be today" or "how bad will it be in (insert city here)?". Frankly, I don't know. Without throwing tons of technical speak at you, I'll say it like this: The atmosphere this morning is like a ton of dynamite and every second of sun we see will be like a gallon of gasoline. Each degree of warmth we get is a match, and that storm system moving in from the west is the striker strip.

We got lucky yesterday, for some reason the match blew out. Today, we won't be as lucky.

Yes, I'd love it (in fact, there's a part of me that's hoping) that this becomes nothing more than a rain/wind/hail event and all the really bad stuff doesn't develop. I don't think that'll happen. No, not everyone is going to see a tornado and in fact not all of us may even get rain much less anything worse, but the risk is so serious (think last April 27th across MS and AL) that the smart thing to do is prepare for the worst to happen.

In addition to staying tuned to your local TV and radio for the latest, here are a few other things you can do to stay informed about this potentially dangerous life threatening situation.

You can, of course, follow my facebook and twitter (@ace38) pages. I'm pumping weather info there as soon as I get it. Also on FB or twitter you can follow your local meteorologist (I use Michael Seger from Fox 23) or @breakingstorm. Another tip is to have updates from one or all of these sources sent as text messages to your phone. This will help you stay informed should the power go out.

Download news/weather apps to your smartphone from your respective stores. Downloading a weather alert radio app would also be a smart idea in case you should doze off.

I use the following websites as part of a multi-pronged attack. Finding a live stream from 100 miles away to know whats moving in your direction can give you a sometimes critical amount of lead time.

www.news9.com (OKC sister station of Tulsa channel 6, have great streaming coverage)

www.spc.noaa.gov (Severe Storms Prediction Center, where all watches are issued from)

www.newson6.com (KOTV channel 6 in Tulsa, also outstanding streaming coverage)

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/view/states.php?state=ok&map=on (NWS site for OK)

Make sure your cell phones are fully charged and your radio/flashlight batteries are new.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: STAY CALM