For about the last week now, meteorologists have been predicting that Oklahoma would be hit by a winter storm the likes of which we had not seen here in a few years. They predicted it would start with a rain/snow wintry mix on Friday that would change over to heavy snow on Saturday. Some areas were even predicted to get hit with ice before the snow fell.
Now, to those of you up North, this is just standard winter weather. Some of y’all (yes, I said y’all) live with snow on the ground for six months out of the year. You laugh at us when we complain about a couple of inches the way we laugh at you about how hot you are in the summer when it’s only 90 degrees. It’s not “hot” here until our tires are melting off our cars.
In any case, just understand that here in Northeastern Oklahoma, it’s “normal” to get several inches of snow a few times throughout winter. In fact, the day I moved here back in January of 2000, we crossed the state line from Texas into Oklahoma and drove right into a blizzard. A normally ninety minute drive from Oklahoma City to Tulsa took us around three or more hours.
It is sporadic enough, however, that our snow plows and sand trucks only run the major thoroughfares. If it snows more than a few inches, good luck getting out of your neighborhood, bitches. Have fun staying home with the kiddos because school is definitely out for a while!
So, our forecasts were being pretty erratic, depending on the models that the computers were running. I’m pretty sure this was a legit forecast:
So was this:
So, of course, this is what happens when people think they’re going to be stuck at home for more than twelve hours:
Honestly, I think we’d be better off having these kind of forecasts:
This is what it looks like at Walfart the day before an expected storm:
Of course, Oklahoma weather being completely impossible to predict, decided to laugh at all of us and the winter storm turned into just a cloudy day for some of us and a little bit of icy drizzle for others. Some of the farther corners may have received actual snow, but it was a total washout, so to speak, here in the Tulsa area.
A lot of people threw shade at the meterologists who panicked, but not me. I personally prefer a little warning on my weather that is sometime inaccurate over the days when we predicted a storm was coming because Pawpaw’s knees hurt.
Besides, Oklahoma is known to have multiple personalities in a given day:
Which is basically how this happened:
All was not lost, however. I did spend my weekend of what was supposed to be a winter wonderland making my Christmas tamales and finally getting my tree up and decorated.
Of course, there’s always the lingering question of what to do with all that bread and milk that was purchased. Here’s an idea:
We WILL rebuild! Stay weird, my friends. Normal is boring.
Rivergirl1211 says
December 11, 2018 at 7:05 amI think it’s the same all over. While we’re very used to snow, when the weathermen predict a N’Or Easter we have the same blind panic grocery runs and empty shelves. And yes, milk is always the first to go. Which really makes no sense because if you’re going to lose power it will spoil, unless you throw it in a snow bank to freeze. Makes much more sense to buy tequila, or vodka. That shit has shelf life.
Kat says
December 11, 2018 at 7:54 amYes, and you can put your vodka out in the ice to chill overnight!
M.L. James says
December 11, 2018 at 1:21 pmScrew the winter. I’m ready for spring! Falalalala! Mona
Kat says
December 11, 2018 at 1:35 pmFall is my favorite time of year. I don’t mind the cold but I hate snow and ice. I HATE Spring in Oklahoma…that’s tornado season.
Allen T. St. Clair says
December 11, 2018 at 1:27 pmOklahoma is absolutely, positively the most eff’d up state for weather. I love it. Of course, Texas is pretty iffy, too. I guess it teaches us all to be resilient, right? A couple weeks ago, JoJo was headed off to work and told me there were tornado watch/warnings and to be ready to get in the shelter. I just shrugged and said: “You’ll be lucky if I get in the hallway.” I mean, just another day in Texas, right?
Kat says
December 11, 2018 at 1:36 pmTornado watches/warnings here just mean “get your lawn chair and meet me on the front porch with your camera on!”
MamaTrek says
December 11, 2018 at 3:08 pmThis totally cracked me up because I’m in north Texas and we’ve been known to have all 4 seasons in the same damn day. The threat of a hint of ice on the ground is enough to send us into a frigging panic and fortunately, I’ve only seen actual snow that was deeper than a couple inches once in my entire life. My son was 5 at the time and we were hosting the Superbowl in Dallas that year. It snowed so badly that school was out for an entire week and I could NOT get down my own damn driveway. We still had cable at the time and my son was fixated on watching “The Caillou Christmas Movie” on Sprout (despite the fact that it was, in fact, JANUARY..they were still playing that movie like 5X a day).
I slept a lot because there wasn’t anything else to do. I ran out of craft ideas on day 2 and I sure AF wasn’t sending my husband to the store for baking supplies to make cookies and junk. Just nope.
By the end of the week, I was able to get out of the driveway, thankfully, and took my son to McDonald’s for a treat. I willingly sat inside a frozen indoor PlayPlace (the A/C was broken and wouldn’t shut off) for a freaking hour, just to say I was not at the house.
Kat says
December 12, 2018 at 7:56 amNorth Texas and Oklahoma are very similar in that we can have all four season in one day too. I grew up in West Texas, though, and even though I’ve been in OK for almost 20 years, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the snow and ice!