Miss Wisabus » Weather

Wordless Wednesday

Elizabeth — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:00:07 +0000

Smoke hanging in the sky during some of our summer wildfires. It hadn’t crossed my mind until a few days ago that our risk for these things is going to continue into the fall months, possibly become even greater with the increased winds, if we don’t get some serious rain soon.

On the Road

Elizabeth — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:14:36 +0000

I’ve been meaning to write about what I’ve been doing during my husband’s trip back east to visit family and friends and a retiring teacher, but of course by the time I get around to it, he’s already back. Here are some highlights.

My mom and I deep cleaned my house. We got a lot done and I’ll feel better about leaving it for our upcoming trip to the Bahamas.
While we’re gone we are getting a new shower installed. How about that!
Kevin flew out the day after we were told he no longer had a job. That was…weird. To say the least. But we’ve been dealing with it and he’s been applying for jobs everywhere.
Enjoyed a few days here with my mom, shopping and just hanging out. It was nice
Went home to my parents’ place for a few days. Enjoyed the pool at the house of some friends. To quote my mother, “You’re going to be disgustingly dark when you get back from your trip.” She’s just jealous
Worked a little bit in the garden.
Spent some time at Granny and Paw Paw’s preparing a little surprise for my dad’s 50th birthday. We’re celebrating it tomorrow, early, because I’m a tool and didn’t realize I was going to be gone on the actual day. So we scheduled the party for family only on a day that everyone could make it. Yay!
Came back to Norman, did a little more housework.
Heather came to visit me! We shopped a little, ate a little more, and talked and talked. It’s so nice to have friends that you can pick up with right where you left off. We scheduled a few things to do in the near future and I’m pretty excited about that.
Last night, before I had to go pick up Kevin at the airport, I survived the scariest microburst I have ever seen. We went without power from 7pm to 12:25pm today. House is finally starting to cool off. Now, for those of you who have never seen a microburst, this is a video someone captured last night. Let me just tell you that it was INSANE. At one point the wind was blowing directly at my back doors and it was absolutely white outside. You couldn’t see anything. Just about as scary as a tornado but NOT a tornado. (Jolene, you’ll enjoy this video!)

The Passing Storm

Elizabeth — Thu, 26 May 2011 12:38:03 +0000

We knew on Monday that Tuesday afternoon and into the evening was going to be a little bit crazy. I’ve lived here my whole life and I’m used to these things. Kevin came here from half way across the country and started storm-chasing. We’re not easily spooked by these things, but it was very clear from early projections that Tuesday could be really dangerous. I’ve heard, though I didn’t witness this first hand because I was at work, that certain other news stations in Oklahoma City were saying that conditions were right to produce a tornado that “if you aren’t underground, you won’t survive.” Thanks to whoever did that, because it made my afternoon really, really fun. (We can now see though that if one of these tornadoes had gone through a more populated area that the damage and death toll would no doubt be higher.)

Because there were no storms located to the south of us, nor where there any headed directly where we were going, we headed south to my parents’ house. I know some people think that was stupid. NEWSFLASH: Kevin and Elizabeth are adults capable of making their own decisions based upon a number of facts. We are not ignorant, nor are we children that you should talk down to. It turned out this was a good decision. Like we thought it would be. We grabbed our important documents, I got the wedding photos, my laptop, Blanket, and Clare. She sat in the floorboard and behaved herself all the way home.

We listened to KMGL out of OKC and heard as the tornado ripped through Piedmont and surrounding areas. It already sounded terrible as the storm chasers witnessed it mowing through homes.

There was nothing happening in the sky until we made it to Mom and Dad’s and even then it was just a little bit of rain. We sat around for quite a while, watching the news and waiting for some word on what might be heading our way. Here’s my itty bitty rant about coverage during a storm — just like some (most) people in the metro area get mad when there is ANY kind of break in coverage to talk about a tornadic storm in a rural area, it is equally frustrating when you are IN a rural area and your tornadoes are on the backburner when there is one anywhere in the general vicinity of Oklahoma County. I know there are more people up there. I know the meteorologists are doing their best. And I’m really thankful that Gary England did say something along the lines of there being something capable of producing a major tornado moving directly toward Pernell.

(We’re Gary people in my family. Only not Paw Paw, or so I’m told. But you didn’t hear that from me. My great-grandmother hung these tips up in two different hall closets back in the late ’70s or early ’80s. I think it’s fabulous. We’ve left them there.)

Cue text from Kevin’s brother: Where are you guys in Pernell?

FYI for the world-at-large: WE ARE PERNELL OKLAHOMA. The community is a little bit spread out and very rural and there are lots of people who live all around, but that dot on the map is my parents.

(Please don’t stalk them.)

By the time Gary said that, Dad was already parked on a hill south of the house, watching things roll in. It’s a spot where you can see everything as it comes in to the area. He thought the storm would go a bit north of us, but it ended up taking a little turn and going east.

It was then that we headed to the cellar.

(That’s the cellar on a sunny day, NOT when we climbed down into it.)

I need to tell you that the last time I went in this cellar for the purpose of seeking shelter from a deadly tornado was in 1989. I was four. My great-grandfather was alive and my dad wheeled him out there in his wheelchair. The only other times I was in there was when my Granny or Nannie allowed us to play in it, which wasn’t often. And the last time I personally lifted the door, I opened it to find the underside of the door covered in scorpions.

So, yeah. I wasn’t particularly thrilled about walking down in there.

The wind gusted and the rain fell hard and cold. Kevin and I went ahead and went inside in the fear that if there was a tornado it might be rain wrapped and we wouldn’t be able to see it coming. We were down there with both of my brothers, my mom, and one of my younger brother’s friends. Mom was doing pretty well considering the anxiety that these storms cause her. Here’s a little trivia for you — on the day that my mother first moved to Oklahoma back in the early ’80s, she and my grandparents and Aunt Robin were caught in the middle of a bad storm on the highway and had to seek shelter under an overpass. That was back when they recommended doing that. We now know you can get sucked out from those or seriously injured and they aren’t the best place for you.

The rain let up a little and Kevin and I ventured out to see what the sky was doing. About that time the rain completely stopped and the temperature went from cold to very, very warm. We looked up and hovering over us, super close to the ground compared to where I prefer clouds to be, was a tube-like formation circulating in the air. We felt the air pressure change and we knew — it was right on top of us.

There it was, just spinning above us. I have never been so close to one, let alone right underneath, but they are correct when they say that it’s VERY hard to tell what it is when it’s right on top of you. It’s nothing to play around with. This was definitely more than scud because the rotation was very clear and it was sucking the other clouds into it. I would like to know what it looked like from far away.

It passed over us and we were unharmed. Thank the Lord. That storm and others that occurred that afternoon had a lot of potential for serious damage and we were blessed not to suffer any. Others in Oklahoma are suffering right now and some have lost everything. Please keep them in your prayers and if you feel like helping out, seek out the Red Cross.

The sun came out and my dad and I inspected the garden we planted a few weeks ago (post coming soon!). She’s doing just fine.

Thank you to everyone who contacted us to make sure that we were okay and to those of you who were praying for us while we were in the middle of all this. We appreciate it more than I know how to express.

Going to Mecca

Elizabeth — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 13:23:53 +0000

Okay, not really. Allow me to explain.

Awhile back, my husband made his first trip to the KWTV News 9 studio in north OKC. That was the beginning. Our friend Matt Mahler is one of the meteorologists there and Kevin has been back a few times to watch what goes on in the studio. He kept bugging me to go, but I seriously did not know if I’d be overcome with the need to roll in front of the camera à la Governor David Paterson on SNL.

That and I have some kinda weird feelings about it. You all know how I’ve explained before that News9 was the only really clear channel we could get after sundown, before we had cable. Some of the scariest moments of my young life were spent sitting in front of a TV, watching it all unfold on News 9 (tornado in 1989 while my mom was in the hospital after having a surgery – we ended up in the cellar and in a bad spot on this one. And Blanket got mildew on herself in the cellar; okay EVERY other tornado/big storm event of my life, ever; the evening after the OKC bombing occurred, I sat watching them report as they were still trying to locate bodies in the rubble)…maybe I shouldn’t have seen some of those things, but I did.

All that to say that this country girl grew up with a lot of respect and healthy admiration for the people delivering the news. That may explain a bit of my hesitation to visit the station. Oh, and the whole seeing behind the “Wizard’s” curtain thing. Sometimes you just don’t want to know how the magic happens.

The Governor Paterson thing? Not so easy to explain. How does one articulate a primal urge like that?

Heh.

While Jolene was visiting, I bit the bullet and we went up to watch Matt do the noon show with Christina. It was really funny to see the things that go on when they go to tape. Like, Matt and Christina just chatting. I had no idea. Part of me was petrified. I didn’t want to make a sound. It was really neat to see everything going on in the studio during the live show. Only two cameramen that I saw, but I have no idea how many other people work behind the scenes.

Fun trip and I learned a lot that I didn’t know about what goes on behind the scenes. Thanks for letting us watch, Matt!

Snowed In…Again

Elizabeth — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:11:10 +0000

A person can only take so much being cooped up in their house. I’m getting desperate for distraction.

So far this morning I have…

done a detox foot soak
drank a detox tea (there’s nothing like being stuck in your house with very little sunlight to make you feel like everything has gone stagnant)
washed dishes
done laundry
watched this video

Can you believe that? I don’t watch Channel 4 for this reason. Also because from the time I was very little, my family chose to watch News 9 out of OKC because Gary England was on it and (probably the main reason) it was the channel we got the clearest in the evening hours. But that video is dadgum hilarious. Please know that there are people in Oklahoma who don’t lose their ever lovin’ minds when freezing precipitation starts falling from the sky.

Thanks so much for your movie recommendations last week. I ended up watching Ron Howard’s The Missing. I love westerns. This one was dark and gritty and I’m a little sad that I had no idea of its existence until now. Great snow day viewing.

Today I have moved on to the BBC’s post-apocalyptic drama from 2008, Survivors. It’s a series that ran for 12 episodes…so I guess I have that to look forward to over the next few days. And I feel that I can relate to these people because it sure feels like civilization has shut down around here, what with being trapped inside four out of the last seven days.

Don’t know about you, but I’ve never been so ready for spring.

Movies for the Snowbound

Elizabeth — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:23:08 +0000

“Mama, what does ‘mauling’ mean?”

I remember that Saturday afternoon very clearly. It must have been 1992 or ’93 because we didn’t have cable yet. The weather was bad (it was wintertime) and we were all indoors. There was nothing on TV, but we finally settled on the afternoon movie on KOCB 34 out of Oklahoma City. The picture was a little snowy due to the weather and as we sat around our tiny living room we had to squint our eyes and listen closely to keep up with the story. We were rivetted. It was…

…the SNOWBEAST.

I’m sure my mom doesn’t remember letting us watch this monstrosity, but it happened. Last night I searched for it and found out that it was a made-for-TV movie from 1977. Explains a lot. Basically it’s a ski lodge in Colorado, there’s a big celebration planned, everyone is skiing around in fancy ski suits, and all of this continues even after teenage Jennifer is found murdered. There’s trouble identifying Jennifer in the beginning though because SHE HAS NO FACE.

No really. The line was something like, “There’s no face left!” I remember being utterly horrified. This was also the movie that introduced the word mauling into my vocabulary.

This movie is really tame compared to the horror/thriller movies you see nowadays. I don’t remember any gore (though it was probably edited for television) and the plot operated a lot like Jaws — the longer you go without seeing the monster, the scarier it is. And the monster looks like some Star Wars reject.

Since we’re still stuck in this house, it got me thinking about good movies for a snow day. Yesterday I tried out Insomnia (2002) which was a pretty decent Christopher Nolan film, one I did not realize he directed until it was over. It stars Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank. Okay, I know what all the people who know me are thinking — why is Liz watching a Hilary Swank movie? She hates Hilary Swank.

It’s true. She’s not my favorite. But any movie that promises Robin Williams as psycho-crazy instead of funny overrides my aversion to Ms. Swank.

I don’t want to give away too much, but it’s about two L.A. cops sent to a small town in Alaska to solve a murder. And it turns into much, much more. I decided to watch it simply based on the fact that it was about Alaska. Because that’s what I do.

Looking through my DVD collection and Netflix, I don’t see a lot that just scream “Watch me!” so I was wondering if you all have any suggestions.

What’s your favorite movie for a snow day? What about when you’ve been snowed in for 3.5 days? Then what? Huh? HUH? (Sorry y’all. Got a little cabin fever over here.)

Oh yeah. It’s snowing. Again.

Greetings from the Snow Cave!

Elizabeth — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:09:49 +0000

Electricity? Check.

Water? Check.

Internet service that provides me with hours and hours worth of distractions? Yes, indeedy.

Our neighbors’ house. Not the crazy ones who saw on things in the middle of the night. No, these are our normal neighbors.

We’re fine. Safe and as warm as can be expected in a really old, drafty house. I would say we’re pretty snow bound, though my husband did manage to clear off the driveway this afternoon. We have no plans to leave the house anytime soon and I anticipate having no reason to leave until the weekend. They haven’t called school for Thursday or Friday yet, but I just can’t imagine those rural areas being safe for buses before Monday. We shall see though.

Our shrubs need a haircut.

The drifts around the back of the house made it up to 3 feet high where I could see, but I haven’t ventured out very far. People in the Tulsa area got it much worse this time. I think we probably got 6 or 7 inches here at our house.

Brr. It looked cold outside but reality was even more harsh. Today the sun is out and stuff is melting and falling off the roof. Not much change in the street though. The lows today were supposed to be the worst and it’s currently 16 °F. Yup, I’m staying inside until the thaw.

Blizzard’s Eve

Elizabeth — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 06:02:58 +0000

– Here we are, tucked cozy in our house, our first significant winter storm in the house since we’ve been married. Not only significant, but historic. That’s the word that’s being thrown around. Okay, Mr. Storm, you have my permission to be as historic as you want, just let me keep the power on in my house.

– Both of us (my husband and I) worked basketball games at school tonight. Somewhat eventful, but we were just glad to get out of the gym and on the road home. We arrived with only a few minutes to spare before the sleet and freezing rain mix began pouring down on our neighborhood. If we’d been considering driving down to my parents and sticking it out with them like we have in the past, all chances of that were gone. We’re here for the long haul now.

– Last night, Kevin headed out and grabbed one of the last sizable indoor propane heaters. I’m praying that we don’t have to use it. We’ve got a blanket pinned up over the french doors in our living room, keeping just a little more heat in the main room. Worst case scenario will find us in here with the dog and a pile of blankets. Again, hoping it doesn’t come to that, but we’re prepared.

– Started some chili in the crockpot a bit ago. It’ll be ready in time for lunch tomorrow. There’s nothing I enjoy more on a snowy day than a big bowl of chili.

– Both of us have plenty of reading material, should the power go out and my plan to watch tons of TV go down the drain.

– Must collect bucket of water for the bathroom in case we have problems with the water. You must always be able to flush the toilet.

Now, I’ll leave you with a tune. It’s a song from my days in junior high/early high school and I looooved these guys. One of my favorite British boy bands at the time. And of course, I could never decide who liked more — the one that rapped or the one with the eyebrow ring. Ahem. The song crosses my mind any time the electricity goes out. Enjoy and stay warm!

Snowed-In and Dune

Elizabeth — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:59:56 +0000

Bet you thought I lost power yesterday when I stopped updating that blog post.

Wrong. I died of BOREDOM.

Snow is beautiful (it’s what we’re getting today) and it’s so much better than ice. But I am ready to throw in the towel on this winter business. I love cold weather. I love rain and thunderstorms. We’ve never reached a point where we had so much rain in Oklahoma that I have tired of it. I think I’d enjoy Seattle or London a lot.

This winter weather though? I’m tired of it. The whole thing might be different if I lived in a state that was equipped to take care of this kind of thing without any major hiccups. But the snow and ice are so rare that it doesn’t get handled very well. I know that the various groups in charge of taking care of things are working their hardest, but man oh man. I’m done. No chains to put on my tires. No back up source of heat if the power goes out. No place to get water if there’s a problem with a line (like there was this morning). First world problems, I know.

Unfortunately, this afternoon I made a deal with my husband that if he would watch William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, I would watch Dune. I should have realized whenever he laughed maniacally and said, “Yeah, I’ll definitely watch Romeo + Juliet if you’re going to watch Dune.”

We’re only 20 minutes in and the faint of heart need to be warned. (If any of my uber-squeamish cousins are reading this, stop NOW.) There is an alien in this movie whose mouth was clearly modeled after a cow’s girlie bits.

I’m going to collect quotable lines from this movie for your entertainment (and in italics, things that they should have said):

“The itching becomes burning.”
“There is a place terrifying to us…to women.”
“Stains become a warning.”
What up. I’m Sting. Look at me rockin’ this red hair and leather.
“You are so beautiful, my baron. Your skin, love to me. Your diseases lovingly cared for, for all eternity.”
Allow me to unplug your heart, bleed yourself all over me, and sexually assault you.
“Spice. Pure, unrefined spice.”
“I want to spit once on your head. Just some spittle in your face.”
Let me now use a type of sign language that looks like a poor attempt at vogue-ing.
“It’s yours to squeeze, as I promised! Squeeze! Squeeze! Squeeeeeze!”
They’ve just told a man he must milk a cat every day for the rest of his life if he wants to live. I’m so confused.
Let us fight them with our pelvic thrusts!

And that, friends, is pretty much how today has been.

Icepocalypse 2010: Blogging ’til the power goes out

Elizabeth — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:44:28 +0000

People are calling it “Snowpocalypse” but we need to fix this. FREEZING RAIN, folks. That’s ice. Ice is so much worse than snow. So much more apocalyptic. Here I am, blogging the biggest ice storm to hit Oklahoma in 2010, so what if we’re only 28 days in. They’re comparing it to 2007 and I’m going to have to check my archives to see how I fared in that one. I think I stayed under the covers for days.

So far this morning I have:

Taken what may be my last shower for days.
Had what may be my last cup of coffee.
Shaved my legs (muy importante)
Finished up a good deal of laundry.

And I’m about to finish all these dishes and fill the tub, just in case. In a situation like this the last thing you want to be without is water to flush the toilet with. Memories of gathering buckets full of snow in 2001 to empty in the bathtub, melt, and pour in the back of the tank just for a flush are NOT something I ever want to relive.

What I’ve learned in my few years on this earth is very simple: if you would like rain, ask me to paint over a weekend; snow – allow my husband and I to plan a trip back to the east coast to visit his family. You’ll get that in no small amount. Yes, go ahead and thank us. This ice storm thing is new, but not surprising. It probably has something to do with the fact that we had a trip planned this weekend and my having my annual with Dr. G (for gyno).

You see, I’ve never had an appointment with Dr. G when there wasn’t a glassy sheet of ice covering the entire parking lot. I’m a’tellin’ ya. Not to mention the fact I’m always waiting a while in the exam room because there’s something about a good ice storm that makes babies’ heads turn south and prepare for landing. A little bit like cows.

I’ll be updating as I can. When I feel like it. Until everything goes click and I suddenly have so much time to read.

Stay safe!

5:45AM - Thank the Lord, Norman has canceled school. No, I don’t want to make this up later, but I can’t imagine what kind of day it would have been if we’d had school.
6:39AM – Rain in Norman.
6:56AM - Placing lighters and candles where I will remember, in case this thing gets started before the sun is good and up. Who am I kidding. We won’t see the sun for days…
7:30AM – Mom and Dad called to invite us down to stay while our window for travel is still open. I declined, even though they do have a generator. You get in the country and you’re way more likely to go without water. I told Dad what I’d been doing to prepare. He said it sounds like we’ve got things under control. That’s a big deal.
7:34AM – Nosebleed. Weird. I never have nosebleeds. This would be a bad time for a brain aneurysm.
8:44AM – I joke about aneurysms too much.
9:25AM – I have a sick fascination with non-stop coverage of bad weather. Think I was born with it.
9:26AM - Also, husband still in bed.
9:50AM – Whew. Gary England has made it to the studio. We’ll all be okay
12:02PM - Chili on the stove. Still have power. The freezing rain is coming down really hard now.
2:32PM – It actually is treacherous here in Norman. Tree branches are trying so hard not to touch the ground. I’m watching the Jason Bourne movies and reading The Redneck Diva’s post (thanks for the shoutout, lady!) about the Icepocalypse. Told you it was a better name.
3:20PM – Mom called. Exciting stuff down there. A branch fell on a line and caught on fire so my dad shot it out of the tree. The day was saved.
3:24PM - Also, they are now without power. This has nothing to do with the last update.