Man, Were They Ever Right!

Imagine being in SE Oklahoma (Broken Bow) Monday evening getting text alerts on my phone saying schools will be closing, City hall will be closed, have your pirogue ready, yada, yada.  I hadn't seen the weather since last Friday so I had no clue what was going on.  Luckily I flew back last night before the storms.  The usual overhype turned out to be reality so bravo to the SPC, NWS for giving us the warnings ahead of time.  Since I've been gone and am just getting back into seeing what is happening, I won't spend a lot of time talking about the weather.  However, what the heck caused this system to be so bad? 7.94" at my house (off I-10 near Bonnabel)  The top view is the beautiful comma shape indicating a well defined storm system.

The main upper swirl is over east Texas, but there were several other lower level circulations rotating around that main swirl.   It shows up more clearly on the radar views.

I just heard one businessman say "we weren't prepared for this".  Nor can you be.  That's what I hate about tornadoes & earthquakes, very little, if any, warning time.  The difference with this event is the upper energy/dynamics were much farther to the south & closer to us.  SPC had us in level 3-4 risk.

As the upper low lifts by and away, drier air filters in making for a great weekend.

We'll need several days to dry out.   OK, I promised some pictures of the eclipse.  I begin with the 3 story tree house that "Bank of Dad" provided.  It was just south of Broken Bow & quite expensive.  

Okay, so I had a glass of chardonnay pre-eclipse!   This house was exceptional.

I felt better when my sons reminded me I was spending my kid's inheritance! But back to the eclipse. If you zoom in, you can see the "diamond ring" effect.

Ethan was on the walkway that lit up as darkness fell for 4+ minutes.  So cool.  But back to the house. You had to cross these suspended walkways to enter it & the hot tub.

There were numerous swings and did I tell you about the slide that Ethan went down 50+ times? (Pops did it 4 times)

But as Lee Zurik often says, but there's more!  How about a sauna & outdoor firepit!

Okiedokey Gang, That's all I have.  I'm blessed that FOX 8 provided me with enough $$$ to splurge on my kids while I'm still alive.  I figure IF I can get to the gates of the Kingdom, St. Peter won't ask me "What's in your wallet"?!!!"  Stay tuned!