Cancelling the Heartland Flyer, 5/20, 5/21

[fillyjonk]

This just came across my Twitter feed:

I'm not seeing any forecast bad weather in the region? I'm supposed to catch the TE tomorrow evening in Mineola. I know there are storms forecast for the region but not EPIC storms, from what I've seen.

Or is this actually 'lampshading' that there were few tickets sold for this train? (The 5/21 one from OKC is also cancelled). Or are they anticipating flooding on the route?

Ugh. I am not looking forward to maybe being stuck overnight in MIN if it gets *really* bad.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

This looks pretty threatening to me. They’re calling for strong & long-track tornadoes.

This is from weather.com

 

[fillyjonk]

NWS webpage is only warning of flooding...then again, I will be east of the marked area.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Guessing you don't need to worry since the TE wasn't cancelled (I had focused on the Heartland Flyer, not the TE).

 

[PVD]

If I recall, HF is subsidized by Oklahoma, "lampshading" is highly unlikely.

 

[jebr]

The NWS' Storm Prediction Center is showing a moderate risk of severe weather in Oklahoma City and the surrounding area. That's their second-highest rank that they give, and this far out it suggests there's a good chance for severe weather. It's also in the 45% chance area, along with the "significant severe weather" hashed area (10% or more likelihood of especially strong severe weather.)

 

[bretton88]

Flash flooding will be a big issue. It's quite possible BNSF advised Amtrak to not risk it.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I live in Norman and just about everything in central OK will be dark tomorrow (Monday). People are being told to stay home and Shelter In Place.

 

[fredmcain]

I live in Norman and just about everything in central OK will be dark tomorrow (Monday). People are being told to stay home and Shelter In Place.

Well, I live in northern Indiana, not Norman, OK, but I still get scared sometimes. It makes you feel so small and so helpless.

A year ago from last February we were awakened in the middle of the night to roaring wind and the pulsating of continuous sheet lightning which looked like some kind of other worldly strobe light.

Then I heard what I thought was an unfamiliar sound. So I went over and opened the window on the southwest side of our house and listened. It was the tornado siren in the town of Topeka about 3 miles away. Uh-oh. I got everyone out of bed and we headed to the basement. My son was a little bit irritated at my nervousness at first until he pulled out his smart phone. Sure enough. TORNADO WARNING FOR LAGRANGE COUNTY.

After about 15 minutes the wind and noise subsided and the continuous sheet lightning moved off to the east. It was like WHEW! Glad THAT’S over with. So it was back to bed but sleep did not come right away.

So, if you’re from Norman, OK, I can at least say I know what you’re going through. You must breathe a little easier when the tornado season comes to an end. Or does it? Like I say, that happened in February which was somewhat unusual but you just never know. Mother Nature can pull anything off at any time.

Regards,
Fred M. Cain,
Topeka, IN

 

[JustOnce]

The Storm Prediction Center upgraded the outlook to "High Risk." This is not very common and wikipedia keeps a list of all of the High Risk days. The last High Risk days were in 2017.

 

[jis]

That area has a Torcon of 9 today. That is a 90% chance of a tornado within 50 miles.

 

[fillyjonk]

Yeah, it looks worse than it did last night. I have friends near Claremore and friends in OKC, and I admit I'm gonna worry about them until this is all over. Apparently the direction I will be going is going to be away (at least until I get into Arkansas) for the bad weather...

 

[Seaboard92]

I’m wishing I was there to go storm chasing. Torcon 9 is usually a sure bet.

There is a website Tornado History Project where someone has mapped every tornado in the since 1950. It’s really remarkable how often tornados visit the same areas over multiple years. It really makes me wonder if there is something in the environment that attracts larger storms, or something that can attract tornados. I highly recommend checking it out.

Tornadohistoryproject.com

 

[JustOnce]

The Storm Prediction Center has issued a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" Tornado Watch. This "enhanced" wording is used when multiple strong, long lasting tornadoes are predicted across an area.
https://imgur.com/LSXlmy8 (link stolen from reddit)
This is only the second time ever where the likelihood for all hazards is high.

 

[PVD]

Many school districts in Oklahoma had students stay home today. A of the indicators are in place that serious storms may occur, no reason to tempt fate.

 

[chakk]

Given the amount of rain and wind that hit California on Friday and Sunday, the Midwest should look for a repeat of their severe weather on Wednesday (and perhaps something a little less violent on Friday).