Southern TE'ers: heads up!

[emily_in_nc]

We're supposed to get this ominous weather Fri. morning here in NC.

[Aggie_Ama]

At the bottom of tornado alley it wasn't a drill either. I grew up in Round Rock, TX. I remember spending 3 hours tucked in the concrete halls of my elementary school while the teachers listened to the radio reports that a tornado had wiped out Jarrell, TX that was the F-5 that leveled the town back in 1989. The aftermath was devastating, the whole area on one side of IH-35 no longer was there when I went to Dallas a couple weeks later to bowl a tournament. I couldn't sleep for weeks if the wind blew.

[Aint Doody]

I said "tornado drills," but it was what we called it when we were under a watch or warning. We spent hours in our positions until the weather had passed. And Mr., I can relate to your description. Being a teacher, we had to try to keep everybody under control. It was awful and terrifying.

[Aggie_Ama]

We called both practice and for real drills Doody so I knew what you meant but also meant we unfortunately got the real stuff more than once.

[sundial]

From the Weather Channel:

3:00 pm ET
Tornado watch OK, KS, MO, AR: A tornado watch was recently issued for eastern Oklahoma, southeast Kansas, southwest Missouri and extreme western Arkansas.

The tornado watch is in effect until 9 pm CT. The SPC warns of hail up to 3 and a 1/2 inches in diamater (larger than baseballs), thunderstorm wind gusts to 80 mph and tornadoes that could become strong (EF3 or greater) and long-lived.

Tuckervill and BabyBlue, looks like you are in the storm now. Be careful and keep your eyes on the skies.

[Tuckervill]

We had some hail while it was screaming through, but it is just raining now. The sky has that sickly green color that always makes me think tornadoes. They all seem to be happening down south, though.

Tulsa is already in the clear.

Karen

[sundial]

From the NWS:

Tornado Watch

TORNADO WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WT 125
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
720 PM CDT THU APR 9 2009

TORNADO WATCH 125 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM CDT FOR THE
FOLLOWING LOCATIONS

ARKANSAS COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

ARKANSAS BAXTER BOONE
CLARK CLEBURNE CLEVELAND
CONWAY DALLAS DESHA
FAULKNER FULTON GARLAND
GRANT HOT SPRING INDEPENDENCE
IZARD JACKSON JEFFERSON
JOHNSON LINCOLN LOGAN
LONOKE MARION MONROE
MONTGOMERY NEWTON PERRY
PIKE POLK POPE
PRAIRIE PULASKI SALINE
SCOTT SEARCY SHARP
STONE VAN BUREN WHITE
WOODRUFF YELL

Karen, glad you didn't have any damage.