It’s severe weather season and the state Oklahoma has seen a lot of it so far this year.
According to the National Weather Service Norman our state has seen 46 tornadoes so far and some of them have been devastating.
Living in Oklahoma you always need to have a plan for severe weather.
KSWO Chief Meteorologist Lexie Walker says knowing what the forecast is like will help you know which plan you need to implement.
“First of all, people should kind of know what the forecast is ahead of time and knowing the difference between a watch and a warning is also going to help you when it comes to the plan that you should have in place, because when a watching whether it’s a tornado watch or a severe thunderstorm watch that your plan needs to be in your brain going okay what is my plan? A, B, C, D, E and in the event of a warning, that’s when your plan should start be putting into place. Not only is having a plan ahead of time before severe weather starts to roll in very important because I know a lot of people have storm anxiety, they’re anxious when it comes to these storms and having that plan is going to help you understand, okay what am I going to do when severe weather is actually rolling through and in the event of severe weather, meaning severe thunderstorm warning or a tornado warning.”
With Oklahoma’s severe weather and how damaging past storms have been, having a severe weather kit is important.
Walker says when getting a severe weather kit together, you need to make sure you cover all the bases.
“Make sure you have an extra pair of shoes and clothes on hand, a whistle in the event that we actually do have tornado damage come through, that whistle can help first responders find you, extra car seats when it comes to little children and bicycle helmets are also something great to have just on hand in your severe weather kit.”
Weather is rapidly changing which is why you need to stay up to date with the most recent forecast.
Walker says you need to stay weather aware at all times and plan your day and activities around severe weather.
“And say hey is this going to impact me? Do I have a tee ball game coming up tonight? Do I have soccer game, a football game? Do I have my kids dance recital? Is there something going on that I need to be out and about in the event of severe weather rolling through in the afternoon, evening, and even overnight if you’re planning a trip somewhere else, if you have to drive to Dallas airport.”
One of the biggest complaints you’ll see is KSWO covering up their favorite show during weather coverage.
Walker says while it might be annoying missing your favorite show, they legally have to do tornado coverage due to Federal Communications Commission laws.
“This by law is the FCC rule, anytime there is a tornado warning in our area, we will go wall to wall. It may be in the middle of Station 19, it may be in the middle of American Idol or the bachelor and we’re sorry that we are covering up your programming but at the same time, I doesn’t matter where that tornado warning is, it can be southwest Oklahoma and it could be North Texas, but that is still part of the 27 counties that we cover and that we are going to be on TV covering and making sure that people in those areas are staying safe.”
Walker says TV isn’t the only way to keep up with severe weather coverage. There’s NOAA Radio, KCCU, social media, and you can also download the First Alert 7 Weather App.
