The winter storm warning has been upgraded to a blizzard warning over extreme northwest Texas through central Oklahoma, as winds are expected to gust over 60 mph with whiteout conditions and EXTREMELY intense snowfall rates!!!!! This is a very life threatening situation for residents from Wichita Falls, TX to Oklahoma City, and apparently accidents are extremely numerous. Channel 9 out of OKC is reporting people trapped in their cars in the Walmart parking lot of El Reno, OK, after shopping for less than an hour!In 1987 my wife and I spent our first Christmas as a married couple with the family in Bethany, OK. We awoke on Christmas Eve to an ice and sleet storm that continued all day. By the end of the day I had over 2 inches of ice on my rental car and everything in town was coated.
Tree branches were breaking off, overloaded with ice, the lawn looked like skating rinks, and the roads were just crazy. The church called off the Christmas Eve service because it was too dangerous to drive.
We got some good sledding in on the hill by the house, and when we finally did venture out the day after Christmas you couldn't go more than 20 mph without losing traction. We had a couple of exciting moments.
We drove over to a nearby restaurant and as I was creeping around their iced-over parking lot the car broke loose and began to slide sideways toward the building. I was pretty sure we were going to hit it, but thankfully we slowly slid to a stop a couple of feet away.
A day or so later, still with a heavy load of ice on the car, I slowed for a light and there was a big crash as the ice sheet that covered the roof slid down the windshield and crashed onto the hood. I'm just not used to that kind of stuff.
We'll have clear skies and moderate temps in So Cal today, but I have to admit there's part of me that would love to be sitting in a warm house in Oklahoma watching the ice storm.
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2 comments:
It is so nice to be inside the house with a warm cup of coffee/hot chocolate/cider or tea and watching a flickering fireplace and at the same time looking out the window at the snow coming down and the ice forming on the trees/shrubs. I've had my fill of being outside in this type of weather so I'll settle for Sunny California, clear blue skies, and no wind. I feel for many of those that will be trapped this Christmas Eve due to the storm.
I've lived in Colorado most of my life. I am 46 and would move to CA or Hawaii any time...you can have the cold, I don't want it, I'll look at a picture if I want to see it.!
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