Ahh , Spring weather out here

[oldbike54]

 We'll start with East Texas , tornadoes tear up Canton , not far from the Oleo Ranch , Rodekyll tells me that that storm is getting close to their location . Stay safe down there guys , keep Beaver safe . Next , Oklahoma is seeing some extremes . Over here in the East we are under water , bridges washed out , hail , kayaks and canoes being employed in Tahlequah .

 Update; Rodekyll just called , almost got struck by lightening , said it almost blew him of Ken's porch , gonna go back inside now and look for a flashlight 

 Anyway , back to Oklahoma , floods over on my side , 10 inches of snow in the panhandle some 400 miles West . Their forecast calls for 60's by Tuesday , and they have been in the 80's for most of April .

 Anyway , stay safe out there guys .

 Dusty

[Rich A]

Over 8 inches of snow in Santa Fe today, but it should melt quickly.

Rich A

[oldbike54]

 Apparently a tornado was bearing down on Lindale , fortunately it jumped up 1000 ft into the atmosphere and didn't do any damage . Rodekyll's first twister .

 Dusty

[rodekyll]

We have internet back.

At least[edit 5 dead at last count including] one dead in a tossed car, and 60 or more injured in Canton, about 25 miles from us.  They were having a weekend festival and there were a lot of people there.  Apparently the festival site was hit by a mile-wide twister, one of three that tore up the town and points north.  They were on the ground for a long time -- 80 total miles by some reports.  They crossed major highways and ruined a lot of vehicles on I-20.   

early report:

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/weather/2017/04/28/rainstorms-wash-weekend-plans-across-dallas-fort-worth-saturday

Then the storm track changed direction and bore down on the Oleo Ranch.  We were getting close lightning hits in all directions, and the lightning was non-stop.  Overlapping.  This went on for 15 minutes or so.  Beaver's house, down past the armadillo corral, was getting rocked by concussions.  The wind picked up, we lost internet and tv (but not power), rain came heavy, and the sirens went off.  Regular programming on the radio, which had gone to emergency services earlier in the evening, was telling us it was our turn: GET SHELTER NOW!  A "rotation" was bearing down on Lindale.  No shit.  From the porch it seemed I was in the middle of it.  Wind was probably 60 and had a lot of different directions.  Rain was washing sideways from the left, then right, then left/center, etc.  I didn't think it was possible for that much lightning to happen all at once, but it did.  A bolt hit really close and the concussion physically moved me in my chair.  It was the mother of all flashbulbs.  I saw spots for several minutes.  I don't know if I was fascinated, frightened, or f***ed.  Something with an "F" though, no doubt, and the next few minutes would tell.  I decided I needed to find my flashlight, just in case, and that it was probably inside the house.   

Inside, the first hard reports were coming in from Canton.  Dozens, maybe scores injured.  People being found hundreds of yards from where they were last standing, one out in a farmer's field.  Significant chaos.  Settlements to the north reporting major damage, too.  Emergency squads mobilizing from all the surrounding communities, and the high school converted to a temporary hospital.  Efforts hampered by impassible roads and monsoonal rain.  Alrighty, then.  I got my flashlight and my shoes on.  Let it come.   

And then it was rather suddenly past.  The wind died rather quickly, although the rain remained torrential.  The lightning moved north and east.  At about 9:45, the radio said the rotation passed over Lindale at about a thousand feet as the storm lost power.  Programming went back to the same mix tape of 6 country western songs that hasn't changed since Thanksgiving, interspersed with commercials for the car lot that owned the station.  Wilson, the cat, came in from the porch.  Wilson likes lightning and makes it a point to have a ringside seat to watch it -- from somewhere dry.   

It was a year to the day since the tornado struck at 5:45 PM  and destroyed the Oleo Ranch, which has not yet fully recovered.  Tex, being who he is and all, went to bed early.   

[Zoom Zoom]

Glad to hear you guys got through it all. Nasty stuff.

John Henry

[Guzzistajohn]

Having the wettest April ever is sw mo. People are still dumb enough to drive into flood waters even after hearing "turn around don't drown" a million times.

[KiwiKev]

Geez, sounds pretty scarey RK, hope you survived unscathed. There was something about it on the TV news here I think.

Good luck

Kev

[Sheepdog]

It's been mild here in Louisiana, but the wind has been blowing a gale. We're supposed to get a pretty wild thunderstorm this evening...

[LowRyter]

yep, cancelled my ride to Jasper Ark this weekend.  All that work to get my greenie together and 

[Darren Williams]

Well I discovered riding yesterday that a taped seam of my rain pants may have become "untapped". Of course I haven't ridden in that heavy of rain since coming back from the Springfield Mile a couple years ago.

[Guzzistajohn]

Well I discovered riding yesterday that a taped seam of my rain pants may have become "untapped". Of course I haven't ridden in that heavy of rain since coming back from the Springfield Mile a couple years ago.

Gawd, that was a toad strangler wasn't it? I had one dry spot under my left armpit.

[LowRyter]

Well I discovered riding yesterday that a taped seam of my rain pants may have become "untapped". Of course I haven't ridden in that heavy of rain since coming back from the Springfield Mile a couple years ago.

gees, you still rode to B'ville in this weather?   That's just asking for it.

[Darren Williams]

gees, you still rode to B'ville in this weather?   That's just asking for it.

No, the guys coming from that direction opted out and didn't come. So I just met up with the few at Eskimo Joes in Stillwater.

[oldbike54]

 13 dead across the South and Midwest from these storms . Kind of puts some things in perspective . Sheepdog , you alright down there ?

 Dusty