Okie weatherpeople...

[blonndee]

and yall who have lived here awhile,

What do you think the chances of tornadoes are from Rita? When do you think they might come around? I missed the local news.

I'm supposed to be in DC till Monday night and I'm trying to decide if I should stay here instead to make sure my dogs are okay.

[don954]

1. when she cam through here, we had a tornadoe form from one of

the armbands all the way up here in Ft Lauderdale, so i would be the core of the storm is going to have lots of 'em.

[sazemisery]

2. I expect to see lots of tornado activity..

Where are you located?

[blonndee]

5. In about the worst place possible: Moore.

:-(

[RoyGBiv]

6. Otherwise known as ...

The Target

There is something wrong with Moore, something other than Toby Keith I mean. As a former storm spotter, I've seen a lot of tornadoes in my life, up close and personal. I've experienced more of them in and around Moore than any other single spot. It's kinda weird. This is just personal experience. I haven't really bothered to check to see if there's a statistical basis for this.

My mother lives near the intersection of Santa Fe and 134th ST. Two rather nasty suckers have flown right past her house in the last few years. The apartment she moved out of two months before the May 3rd tornado no longer exists, so she's been lucky, actually.

[KatyaR]

9. When I was a kid, it was Enid.

It seemed like Enid was always getting hit by tornadoes or flooding.

I agree with you about Moore--something's weird there.

[RoyGBiv]

3. Good to high chance ...

If the storm maintains the intensity it is predicted to have, by the time the remnants gets to OK, it'll be a gully-washer to be certain. The atmosphere will be very unstable, all the makings.

It won't be your typical outbreak of OK tornadoes, though, so it is hard to say exactly what will happen, and a lot of it will depend on exactly how much the storm weakens overall, how fast it is moving, and where it tracks. A standard outbreak pattern starts with a cold front moving west to east and interacting with warm, gulf air. The resulting storms move generally NE with the line itself moving generally east. Some of the storms can produce very powerful tornadoes that linger for dozens of miles and grow in strength.

That likely won't be the case with these. It'll be hit and miss, with individual storm cells moving in strange directions, interacting in ways that are difficult to predict, and producing short duration, fairly weak tornadoes. It'll be F1-F2, mostly, with perhaps a few stronger ones. Of course, even a weak one can tear a house apart.

Don't know what to advise. It's not going to be a good weekend, weather-wise. That much is for certain. If you leave, I'd try to find someone to check on them, and I wouldn't leave them outside. Localized flooding could be a problem and may be the bigger issue with this storm.

[blonndee]

4. Thank you. I'm boarding the dogs in Norman so I'll call tomorrow

to find out what they do in case of storms. I don't want them left alone if at all possible...one of them is afraid of thunder.

Gosh! I hate to miss DC, but I also would feel horrible leaving them alone in a potentially dangerous situation.

Man...

[Tess49]

7. The weather report tonight said 20 inches of rain possible.

I really hope that doesn't happen. Also said flash flooding is probable. I assume tornadoes are a real possbility.

[daninthemoon]

8. Here in Lawton ABC isn't making a big deal. What does the national

weather service say? anybody look?