I’m one of those who can put on the weather, and sit and watch. Maybe, I’ll have a couple of distractions, but nothing important that would keep me from looking up and taking in the red-smeared Oklahoma weather maps being shown on-screen. Yes. I’m a severe-weather junkie.
Having spent some time in the field, loving the time a tornado crossed in front of the car as my cameraman and I searched through the driving rain for some sign of the funnel, something we could take a picture of – I relish the chance to watch the pros in action.
There was a little surprise on Thursday night. Mostly, in was from TV viewers looking for their programs. Travis Meyer on Channel 6 is understanding, and cracks jokes about it. Sometimes, he is out-and-out droll. “Some of you have just tuned in looking for your show. Sorry.” I had to laugh.
Later, he was showing us the big picture, as opposed to the “little guys” that he referenced throughout the evening. He widened the view to include Kansas, and I swear there was genuine surprise in his voice when he saw the major rotation. It looked like a typical thunderstorm image, except it covered the entirety of the Kansas plains.
Sure enough, it was half an hour later that that same system whipped its circular airmass back into the Sooner State and the rain began to fall. More red on the Oklahoma map. “Pretty impressive,” said Travis.
The rain that had left, allowing the weather team to get distracted with southeast Oklahoma twisters, returned. The thunder came back with a vengeance, packing some lightning, some hail (to golfball sized, he says), and more potentials for damage from Bixby to Broken Arrow.
Now, there is a confirmed death at Tushka, a little community between Tulsa and Dallas. It reminds Tulsa television viewers why we should be patient when the weathermen continue to talk about such far-flung areas.
They don’t have TV stations in Tushka, Oklahoma. They rely on the metro meteorologists to keep them safe. Maybe those living in that community would rather have been watching The Mentalist, too.
I think that’s a sure bet.