Wednesday's Forecast

Run for the hills!!

Okay so this weekend I went home... the cows came to eat and I tip toe to the fence and start taking pictures of them.... One click and they see me and SPLIT! I mean do you see them taking off! You would have thought I screamed or something... 

Rounding the corner on 2 wheels!

Speaking of cows... they lay down when it is about to rain. Y'all know that?

Well it happens on the Thompson Ponderosa... maybe I should conduct research on weather folklore next? I think it would be a great thing to do this summer... I just happen to have an area (cough cough a pool) with a view of cows (pictured above) whom I can observe and take note of their laying down occurrence and see if it corresponds with rain drops. 

Just sayin'

But on a serious WEATHER note... tomorrow will be a BIG severe weather event.

The weather will be nasty tomorrow... when my 2 weather professors came in today and were concerned... I became triple concerned. 

Do be careful and remember it is better to be prepared... the weather will do what IT wants to do not what we FORECAST it to do. Meteorologists and weather enthusiasts can read upper air data and the surface maps but at the end of the day "numbers can be there and we still might not see anything or we might see a lot of something and no numbers to support it."

So since my research area is weather... and how to keep the society better informed in dangerous situations like tomorrow, I thought I would offer up some of my own personal preparedness plans. 

Just think about the places you could be when you hear or receive a tornado warning alert...

1. In the case you are in your car... a tornado warning is issued.

Where would you go? If you see the tornado (usually it will be a rotating funnel coming out of a bigger cloud.. whether it touches the ground or not... it can touch down at anytime and be destructive) I would pull over and get in a ditch, grab anything in your car that you can protect your head with and lay flat in a ditch. If you feel comfortable and are close to home I would drive home and RUN in and get in your safe stop ASAP. Or if you know someone who lives VERY close- go seek shelter there. 

The key here is... your car is a BAD place to be during a tornado... but there are safe places to get if you are stuck in this location. You can avoid being in this situation by monitoring the weather during the day and especially before you are about to drive somewhere... I recommend the "check the weather" option.

2. In the case you are at work...

If your workplace (students this is school for you... woohoo we love to learn) does not have a severe weather plan (WHAT? Everyone doesn't care about weather??!?!?) or you do not know what to do, I would go to the lowest part of the building. Be sure to stay AWAY from windows and remain in the inner most area of the building. 

3. In the case you are at home...

Say, like myself, in an apartment- you should go to the inner most room. For me it is my bathroom... if you are on the first floor 

(like me... and yes I chose it because of weather.... don't laugh) 

be sure to stay away from the windows.... turn the TV weather man up on the television if you have power (sometimes just hearing someone's voice can keep you calm). Bring your phone or lap top so you can pull a radar up (those posted yesterday are great sites to bookmark click here) and call someone if you need to calm yourself down. Also grab something that will offer protection... pillows, mattress, anything to protect you if debris fell on top of you.

Just remember all you can do is prepare for the storm... go ahead and think through your plans tonight. Maybe call a friend who has a house with a basement or safe room and see if you can head over after lunch tomorrow, just to be safe. If you are not a list maker... I urge you to make a list of your schedule tomorrow and see where you will be after lunch. If it is somewhere safe (on campus... or wherever) might just want to be prepared to hear the tornado sirens go off and be able to make sure you are safe at any point after lunch (or before... no 100% on the location and timing with weather).

Go ahead and check out your local forecast and what you should prepare for at: www.weather.gov

and get prepared and prepare those that you interact with tomorrow if you are at risk :)

Stay safe out there!

Back to "overload week" I go... and monitoring this monster storm system!

YIPPEE for preparedness plans!