Oklahoma weather humor!
This
was sent by the wife of the head meteorologist of the Nat'l Weather Bureau,
based in Norman, OK---Considering the past couple of weeks here, we all need a
little touch of humor.
A Little Taste of
Oklahoma Living
For
those of you who aren't familiar with tornadoes and are hearing news coverage
of this, I put together a short glossary to help you understand.
Fujita
Scale: Scale
used to measure wind speeds of a tornado and their severity.
F1: Laughable little string of
wind unless it comes through your house, then enough to make your insurance
company drop you like a brick. People enjoy standing on their porches to watch
this kind.
F2: Strong enough to blow your
car into your house, unless of course you drive an Expedition and live in a
mobile home, then strong enough to blow your house into your car.
F3: Will pick your house
and your Expedition up and move you to the other side of town.
F4: Usually ranging from 1/2 to a
full mile wide, this tornado can turn an Expedition into a Pinto, then gift
wrap it in a semi truck.
F5: The Mother of all Tornadoes,
you might as well stand on your front porch and watch it, because it's probably
going to be quite a last sight.
Meteorologist: A rather soft-spoken,
mild-mannered type person until severe weather strikes, and they start yelling
at you through the t.v.: "GET TO YOUR BATHROOM OR YOU'RE GOING TO
DIE!"
Storm
Chaser: Meteorologist-rejects
who are pretty much insane but get us really cool pictures of tornadoes. We
release them from the mental institution every time it starts thundering, just
to see what they'll do.
Tranquilizer: What you have to give any dog
or cat who lived through the May 3rd, 1999 tornado every time it storms or they
tear your whole house up freaking out of their minds.
Moore,
Oklahoma: A
favorite gathering place for tornadoes. They like to meet here and do a little
partying before stretching out across the rest of the Midwest.
Bathtub: Best place to seek shelter in
the middle of a tornado, mostly because after you're covered with debris, you
can quickly wash off and come out looking great.
Severe
Weather Radio: A
handy device that sends out messages from the National Weather Service during a
storm, though quite disconcerting because the high pitched, shrill noise just
as an alarm sounds suspiciously just like a tornado. Plus the
guy reading the report just sounds creepy.
Tornado
Siren: A
system the city spent millions to install, which is really useful, unless
there's a storm or a tornado, because then of course you can't hear them.
Storm
Cellar: A
great place to go during a tornado, as it is almost 100% safe, though weigh
your options carefully, as most are not cared for and are homes to rats and
snakes.
May-June: Tourist season in
Oklahoma, when people who are tired of bungee jumping and diving out of
airplanes decide it might be fun to chase a tornado. These people usually end
up on Fear Factor.
Barometric
Pressure: Nobody
really knows what this is, but when it drops a lot of pregnant women go into
labor, which makes for exciting moments as their husbands are trying to drive
them to the hospital and dodge tornadoes at the same time.
Cars: The worst place to be during
a tornado (next to a mobile home). Yes, you can out run a tornado in your
car...unless everybody on the road decides to do the same thing, and then
you're in grid lock.
A
Ditch: Supposedly
where you're supposed to go if you find yourself without shelter or in your car
during a tornado. Theoretically the tornado is supposed to pass right over you,
but since it can lift a 20 ton truck and up root a three hundred year old tree,
I'd bet my life on out-running it in a car.
Mobile
Home: Most
people are convinced mobile homes send off some strange signal that triggers
tornadoes, because if there's one mobile home park in a hundred mile radius,
the tornado will find it.
Earthquake: What any Californian
would rather go through on any scale of severity than face a tornado.
Tornado: What any Oklahoman
would rather go through on any scale of severity than face an earthquake.
Twister: Slang for 'tornado' and
also the title to a movie starring Helen Hunt, which incidentally everyone
thought was corny and unrealistic until May 3rd, 1999.
Power
Flash: One
of the most reliable ways to track a tornado at night, it's the term used when
the tornado hits a power line and a bright light flashes. It's also the emotion
experienced by meteorologists when they get to make the call to interrupt
prime-time must-see t.v. and a million dollars’ worth of advertising to track a
storm for viewers.
Here
are some phrases you might want to learn and be familiar with:
"We'll have your electricity restored in
24 hours," which means it'll be a week.
"We're going to be out for a week, so buy
a lot of supplies and an expensive generator," means it's going to be on
in twelve hours, probably as soon as you return from Wal-Mart.
"It's a little muggy today." Get
outta town. It's getting ready to storm.
"There's just a slight chance of severe
weather today, so go ahead and make your outdoor plans." Ha. Ha ha ha ha.
And Rene's BIG TIP of the day:
1) You'll just about have a heart attack when
they all come on at the same time, waking you from a dead sleep.
And...
2) Your breakers will blow, leaving you in the
dark once again.
Compliments of: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/915083/posts
When you are done laughing remember Rene's Big Tip of the day...it works everywhere...have a great day, a safe day and enjoy a moment of tatting.
Peace
3 comments:
Thank you, thank you for the laugh. No, I don't live in Okalahoma but I do live just north in Kansas. This is great! Thank you so much for sharing it.
lol... That is hilarious, and so Oklahoma!!
I reread this last night just after that now familiar rumble then shake rattle and roll. This Oklahoman is getting far too comfortable with earthquakes! I would still rather have a tornado though. At least we know those are coming... sometimes two or three days before.
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