Over It {Tornadoes}

It is not a secret that I really don't do severe weather. Actually, no, that's not true. I like it, find it fascinating, and would even consider storm chasing if I knew the vehicle and driver were up to the challenge. However, it there's severe weather in the state of Oklahoma, I don't like it. Not one single bit.

There are several factors that go into this.

1) I have lots of family and good friends that are spread out in Oklahoma. I have the most important ones marked on my weather radar app so I know if they're about to get hit or not. I've always been overly protective of those I care about, so this is no different.

2) My house was hit by lightning once. I believe it was around 1999 or 2000. Whatever year it was, it was ridiculous. That's why I hate thunder and lightning.

3) Hailstones broke our window in our last apartment before we bought our home. We were luckily not at home, but it did scar me.

4) Most of the time since Jillian was born, I am with the kids alone when things get nasty. That means I not only have to be calm to keep them calm, I also had to make a lot of executive decisions about our safety. That can be pretty nerve-wrecking in certain situations.

5) Based on my experience that day, I assume any tornado is going to be like May 3, 1999. Is that irrational? Oh absolutely. Can I change it? Not a single bit.

I feel like, because we do not have an underground storm shelter at the house yet, my family is not safe, and there is no way for me to protect them in our current residence. When we do finally get a shelter, I would probably be a little more at ease, but only if it is an underground one. And you better believe I'll be in there a lot, even if the tornadoes are far away.

Phil has tried several times to educate me in meteorology. {Most Oklahomans are amateur meteorologists anyways amIright?} Over the last 7 storms seasons we have endured as husband and wife, I feel like I have a pretty basic understanding of when to panic.

This is where it has gotten tricky...

I know just enough to know when I need to start paying close attention to storm tracks, wind velocity, etc. I know what rotation, and what a debris ball looks like on radar. Ever since I gained this confidence through knowledge, something has changed: the weather.

Hear me out.
In 2013, we had some anomalies throughout the storm season. Sometimes it would be the intensity of the storm, and sometimes it would be the number of storms we had.
In 2014, the season was an anomaly because we had a "tornado drought" of sorts.
And this year. Oh 2015 is really being ridiculous. Almost every storm we've had, and this is on top of the historical amount of rainfall we've had, has been an anomaly. Tornadoes forming after a cold front goes through. Tornadoes popping up at 6:45 am. Tornadoes forming over and over and over again in an area that didn't even have a Tornado Watch issued. My favorite was a few days ago when three storms near each other had storm tracks going every which way! One was going north, another southeast, and the third going straight east. Then, they didn't even merge together! It was the strangest thing.

With that being said, I am done. Done dealing with storms that look like it's just rain, and then it becomes tornadoes with hail and flash flooding following it. I'm done packing up my bug out bag in case we need to go to a friend's house across town to be in an underground shelter. I'm done having to come up with new dinner plans because we have to wait until the storm passes just in case we lose power. I'm done being so nervous and sick to my stomach that I don't eat dinner at all, then I'm hungry at midnight. I'm done watching the back yard grow so tall that I'm nervous Phil will have an asthma attack when it's finally dry enough to mow. And finally, I'm tired of feeling like my knowledge will help ease me just to have storms act differently so that I feel completely helpless and stupid.

So storm season 2015, you can finish any time please. I'm over it!