Follow us for updates from the field on the storms!
What we do...
When severe weather threatens Blackwell, it is the Blackwell Storm Spotters who go out to watch the
weather. These pages are designed and made for easy reference to some of the vast weather tools available on the
internet. If you are a storm spotter and wish to have a tool added to these pages which is not already here, please
send me a message, and we will get it added to the pages.
Thanks to the Blackwell Oklahoma citizens for your support. We all volunteer many hours every year for your
protection.
People often say after a storm, "We had no warnings." Yet
the sad truth is that most people have all the warnings necessary to make a good decision about the weather
situations which surround them. The problem is they often times fail to use it.
Let me tell you a little story. There was an elderly couple living in a small rural Oklahoma town. The couple
had lived there most of their lives. The wife had told her husband several times during the day that the weather
didn't feel right to her. She had made comments all day about how funny the clouds had looked, how the wind felt
different, how her ears had popped several times during the day. The wife and husband had even commented to each
other about how the cows had been acting funny that afternoon. That afternoon about 4 pm the couple started getting
heavy rain, followed by strange lightening, even hail started falling. The couple finally took shelter in their
storm shelter when the wind got really strong, and large hail started falling. 5 minutes after they took shelter, a
tornado leveled their house to the ground. The couple came out of the house alive, with only minor injuries. The
first thing she said was "WE HAD NO WARNING." Had this
couple turned on the television, radio or anything they would have been warned about the storm. There was complete
media saturation of the event for 4 hours prior to the couples home being hit. The Storm Prediction Center had
placed a Moderate Risk for severe storms over this area 4 days before, and placed a High Risk for severe storms on
this area the day before.
If the weather does not look right to you, or you hear or see something that makes you wonder. DON'T
WONDER, CHECK IT OUT! Sometimes something as simple as turning on the television, radio, or
checking the weather on the internet can SAVE YOUR
LIFE! As storm spotters and chaser, we can make all the tools, report all the
information, do everything with our power to get the information to the National Weather Service, or local
Emergency Management personal. But NONE OF US can make the local PUBIC use it! If you don't own a weather radio,
PLEASE, GET ONE!