Tornadoes in Oklahoma?

I plan to spend about one week traveling to various casinos in Oklahoma. There seemed to have a lot of tornadoes this month.
Which is the worst month, May, June or July? Is there a good time to take my gambling trip? Thank you.

Quote: UCivan

I plan to spend about one week traveling to various casinos in Oklahoma. There seemed to have a lot of tornadoes this month.
Which is the worst month, May, June or July? Is there a good time to take my gambling trip? Thank you.

May is historically the worst by far.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/?n=tornadodata-ok-monthlyannual

Looks like during July or later is significantly better, though June is less than 1/3 of May.

I wouldn't go or not go on a trip to Oklahoma based upon some theoretical tornadoes that may or may not occur. Even if storms are strong enough and have enough rotation to develop them, the chances of the storm affecting you personally are minimal at best. Tornadoes, unlike say a hurricane which can engulf an entire State, tend to carve up narrow swaths of land.

Quote: Gabes22

I wouldn't go or not go on a trip to Oklahoma based upon some theoretical tornadoes that may or may not occur. Even if storms are strong enough and have enough rotation to develop them, the chances of the storm affecting you personally are minimal at best. Tornadoes, unlike say a hurricane which can engulf an entire State, tend to carve up narrow swaths of land.

Tornados are far more intense than most hurricanes, and do not lose their power when traveling over land like hurricanes do. The emergence and geographic location of tornados are not predictable -whereas you can see a hurricane coming from several days away. In May, Okla averages 22 tornados -almost one per day. In 2010, Okla had 91 tornados in May - that's ridiculous. You'd need to stay tuned to weather reports every day just to know where, when and in which direction people are fleeing. And which roads were closed by debris.

Also, tornados can destroy your car's body metal with large hailstones without ever actually touching down (and, thus, without being counted by NOAA). (It happened to more than 10,000 cars in Knoxville, TN where I live about 6 years ago.) And finally when a tornado goes through an area it may cut a relatively narrow swath but people are sheltering in place for miles in every direction for significant periods of time. They are really disruptive - you don't need to be picked up by the funnel cloud to be affected. Hurricanes are a bad storm - but a tornado is the finger of God.

I don't know the exact definition of narrow. In 1997 we had an F5 which cut a swath 3/4 of a mile wide and demolished the town of Jarrell, 41 miles north of Austin. We had no power in Austin and I got to replace my fence and roof.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Central_Texas_tornado_outbreak

Quote: gordonm888

Tornados are far more intense than most hurricanes, and do not lose their power when traveling over land like hurricanes do. The emergence and geographic location of tornados are not predictable -whereas you can see a hurricane coming from several days away. In May, Okla averages 22 tornados -almost one per day. In 2010, Okla had 91 tornados in May - that's ridiculous. You'd need to stay tuned to weather reports every day just to know where, when and in which direction people are fleeing. And which roads were closed by debris.

Also, tornados can destroy your car's body metal with large hailstones without ever actually touching down (and, thus, without being counted by NOAA). (It happened to more than 10,000 cars in Knoxville, TN where I live about 6 years ago.) And finally when a tornado goes through an area it may cut a relatively narrow swath but people are sheltering in place for miles in every direction for significant periods of time. They are really disruptive - you don't need to be picked up by the funnel cloud to be affected. Hurricanes are a bad storm - but a tornado is the finger of God.

I have seen the destructive force a tornado can produce. I lived 3 miles from the Plainfield, IL tornado in 1990. All I am saying is that I wouldn't alter travel plans around a storm that may or may not happen. 91 tornadoes in one month in a state that has 70,000 square miles is not anything that suggests you should not go somewhere because a tornado may or may not occur.

Quote: Gabes22

91 tornadoes in one month in a state that has 70,000 square miles is not anything that suggests you should not go somewhere because a tornado may or may not occur.

I live on the west coast; know a lot about earthquakes, but nothing about real tornadoes. Are there any signs / warnings / precautions before a tornado hits?

Back in Indiana i never got to see a tornado before but I've seen neighbors barns/sheds that were damaged by tornados. Idk. Maybe they weren't very big or just didn't last long.

Quote: Gabes22

I have seen the destructive force a tornado can produce. I lived 3 miles from the Plainfield, IL tornado in 1990. All I am saying is that I wouldn't alter travel plans around a storm that may or may not happen. 91 tornadoes in one month in a state that has 70,000 square miles is not anything that suggests you should not go somewhere because a tornado may or may not occur.

I generally agree Except I would avoid moving towards or into any of the "hot spots" in a violent storm front in Oklahoma in May. This is the same issue as:

- How many shark sightings before you don't go swimming in the ocean on that particular day?
- Do you avoid holding metal in a thunderstorm because of potential for lightning?
- Do you go All In on the very first hand of the WSOP Hold'em Tournament Championship because the chances of someone at your table calling you (and beating you) are very small?

BTW, I have had two encounters with tornados in Tennessee. I don't live my life in fear of tornados, but I have a lot of respect for them.

Quote: gordonm888

...This is the same issue as:

- How many shark sightings before you don't go swimming in the ocean on that particular day?
- Do you avoid holding metal in a thunderstorm because of potential for lightning?
- Do you go All In on the very first hand of the WSOP Hold'em Tournament Championship because the chances of someone at your table calling you (and beating you) are very small?

Nah.

In any case, I wouldn't sweat it. If there's any chance of a tornado, it will be splashed all over the TV and radio. It's not like the 3.8 million residents of Oklahoma abandon the state for three months every year.

Go have fun.

Quote: UCivan

I live on the west coast; know a lot about earthquakes, but nothing about real tornadoes. Are there any signs / warnings / precautions before a tornado hits?

Tornados usually occur at the edge of a storm front where there is a sharp and large difference in barometric pressure. So, if you're watching the Weather Channel, that helps.

In general, the sky darkens quite dramatically before a tornado. In my experience, the noise level of the wind starts to rise dramatically before a tornado touches down -like a railroad train going by. There is often a drop in barometric pressure which is very noticeable if you are outside - its hard to describe but you kinda know it when you experience it - and that happens 2-20 minutes before the tornado probability peaks. And - this will sound silly, but its true - you may start to notice that the wind is no longer blowing from, say, west to east, but that instead the wind appears to be strongly blowing 'sideways' no matter which way you turn, i.e. it is rotational. If you do notice that, scream at the top of your lungs for everyone to get into the basement and then run like hell for the basement yourself. It may just be a micro-burst (which is still dangerous and destructive) but it might just be the Finger of God.

The destructive power of a tornado is not just caused by its wind speed -it is also its rotational torque. Think of an airplane going 170 mph. The airplane is fine as long as it is going in a straight-line but now imagine it is being forced (continuously) into a hairpin turn with, say, a 50 foot radius - the airplane would fly apart. And so would you. A tornado is quite capable of separating your limbs (and head) from your body. and, encountering solid matter in a tornado is like being being thrown from a race car. I would prefer to be in a hundred earthquakes and/or hurricanes than to be in one tornado.

gordonm888, Greatly appreciated (for keeping my head and body together.).

Beware that a lot of Oklahoma casinos have $0.25 ante (fee) per hand of blackjack (no dice or roulette in OK). There are some casinos that pay the ante for you. A good spot is the northeast corner of the state with Downstream casino, Indigo Sky casino, Wyandotte Casino, and Grand Lake casino all ante-free (Buffalo Run might be too).

Now let's talk about casinos and tornadoes. Has any casino ever been hit / destroyed by a tornado? Perhaps casinos are good hiding places in a tornado? Run run to the casino...

Quote: gordonm888

I generally agree Except I would avoid moving towards or into any of the "hot spots" in a violent storm front in Oklahoma in May. This is the same issue as:

- How many shark sightings before you don't go swimming in the ocean on that particular day?
- Do you avoid holding metal in a thunderstorm because of potential for lightning?
- Do you go All In on the very first hand of the WSOP Hold'em Tournament Championship because the chances of someone at your table calling you (and beating you) are very small?

BTW, I have had two encounters with tornados in Tennessee. I don't live my life in fear of tornados, but I have a lot of respect for them.

You are asking about two completely different scenarios. If there is a shark in the water that is an imminent danger, what the OP is asking is if he should postpose travel to OK due to the propensity of tornadoes in the spring. If the sirens go off get to shelter, heck I tend to do so when I hear the term tornado warning in my area

Quote: Gabes22

You are asking about two completely different scenarios. If there is a shark in the water that is an imminent danger, what the OP is asking is if he should postpose travel to OK due to the propensity of tornadoes in the spring. If the sirens go off get to shelter, heck I tend to do so when I hear the term tornado warning in my area

I had in mind something different -like how many shark sightings along the Gulf Coast or Coast of Florida?, rather than actually seeing a shark 40 yards out on the beach where you intend to go into the water. I completely agree that if you are swimming in the ocean and you begin to hear the musical score of Jaws (da-dum da-dum) then you should exit the water. But everyone knows there are sharks in the ocean and that shark attacks occur occasionally. So, how severe does the shark threat need to be before it curtails your behavior?

The shark threat is extremely overblown IMO. For it to curtail my behavior the threat would have to be immediate. My biggest concern entering the ocean however, would be my inability to swin.

Quote: Gabes22

The shark threat is extremely overblown IMO. For it to curtail my behavior the threat would have to be immediate. My biggest concern entering the ocean however, would be my inability to swin.

Good info from Gordon. I grew up in Tornado Alley. I would add that the SINGLE most distinctive thing just before a tornado is that the sky color changes to a sickly grey-green-yellow (mostly yellow with a green tinge) that I've never seen in any other circumstance. You might have 5-15 minutes at that point. Or lless.

My county is supposedly is the Shark Bite capital of the world (in Florida). We get 6-13 bites a season. Mostly smaller, but people do lose fingers/feet/arms/chunks of thigh or buttocks about once a year. Killed, maybe 1 in 5 years. All FWIW.