Matthew Chapman (right) and his brother-in-law Ryan Loken carry a mattress through flood waters as they clear out Champman's home in the 800 block of Scraper street in Vinita, OK May 25, 2011, the day after flooding heavy rain filled up the neighborhood around 10pm the previous night. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World
In the middle of a drought, this is exactly what I wanted to read in this morning’s
forecast discussion.
“HEAVY RAIN LOOKS A NEAR CERTAINTY TONIGHT.”
And the forecasts reflect that. The current forecast calls for a
100 percent chance of heavy rain tonight in Tulsa and eastern Oklahoma. The heaviest rains will be in southeast Oklahoma and western Arkansas, near where a frontal boundary has stalled in northeast Texas.
That’s fantastic news when it comes to the drought. We have made
significant progress in alleviating the drought this fall, especially this month. Before the rain starts this afternoon in Tulsa, we’re already over for the month by 1.71 inches.
However, we’re down from the yearly average by 8.83 inches.
How much can we expect from this rain? Well, some areas could see upwards of 3 inches of rain in this two-day period. Antlers, down in southeast Oklahoma, has had
3.53 inches in the last 24 hours (as of 11:30 a.m. Monday).
That’s a whole lot of water. And it all has to go somewhere…
That large volume of water expected to fall led forecasters to issue
flash flood watches over the weekend for a storm that was still days away. Some of those could very well turn into warnings over the next 24 hours as we start to see exactly where the rain is falling and how much.
With that in mind, it is vitally important to remember flood safety tips. Flash floods are exceptionally dangerous because they are just that: A flash. It doesn’t take long for roadways to be quickly inundated and dangerous. Remember the National Weather Service’s catchy mantra:
Turn around, don’t drown. All together now:
Turn around, don’t drown. That’s the best, sure fire way to avoid getting yourself killed in a flash flood.
Floods were the No. 2 weather related killer in 2010, behind heat-related deaths. The 30-year average of flood related deaths is higher than any other weather fatality.
After the rains, expect clearing and
beautiful weather for Thanksgiving before more rain this weekend.
Want something else to be thankful for? Temperatures are above freezing right now. Be very, very thankful for that.
--Jerry Wofford
