RydzBlog

Well, after 1,258 miles we are finally in Norman, OK. The trip was mainly uneventful, expect for a wakeup call from Mother Nature in Joplin, MO. We left State College around 7:15am yesterday and were able to make it to St. Louis for dinner. After dinner, we continued for a few more hours arriving in Joplin, MO around 12:30am. We had planned on leaving Joplin around 10am to make it to Norman, OK for a 2pm meeting, however, Mother Nature decided to wake us up at 7:30am with hail on the roof. The hail was followed by severe winds that were accompanied by a sky that had a noticeable green tint. Luckily, we appear to have missed the worst of the storm. Storm reports indicate that in other parts of town 1.75 inch hail fell and farther to the southeast a couple of tornadoes were reported. The greatest damage from winds were at television station KSNF that lost their broadcast tower, you can view pictures here. Our hotel had lost power after the storm so we decided to leave early and arrived in Norman, OK around 1:30pm, checked in to the hotel, and then headed to the National Severe Storm Laboratory where we toured the vehicle bay and had mobile mesonet training. Tomorrow brings CPR/First Aid training.