I've lived in Oklahoma, USA, my entire life. As a lot of folks know, we get to deal with tornadoes regularly. About every 2 or 3 years we get devastating ice storms that pull down trees and power lines leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power for days or weeks. In the past 5 years, minor earthquakes up to 4.0-5.0 have started happening. Oh, and let's not forget about what we have to deal with during the summer...
NOAA recently announced that last year Oklahoma, not Texas, had the hottest summer in US history (suck it, Texas). We had long stretches of days with temps 100+ degrees F (38+ degrees C) starting in May and June. With the extended drought, heat, and wind, fire storms began popping up. This lasted for weeks.
Well, this summer wasn't so bad until the last few days. Temps have been from 110 deg F to 115 deg F (43 deg C to 46 deg C), with my area seeing 113 for two days straight. The wind picked up yesterday, and now the fire storms are back:
http://www.news9.com/story/19190887/grass-fires-erupt-in-parts-of-oklahomaI was watching the TV news coverage live yesterday, and helicopters showed the small town of Luther burning to the ground live. Literally, I watched a fire wipe out a city block house-by-house.
Not far from where I live, a fire broke out in the rural countryside. News helicopters showed firefighters and homeowners desperately trying to save property, but in most cases to no avail. Chinooks and blackbirds have deployed from the Oklahoma national guard to help fight the fires. Overall, initial reports are indicating hundreds of homes and buildings have been destroyed in just a few days of wildfires... I thought last year was bad...
My girlfriend snapped a photo on her phone of smoke climbing so high into the atmosphere that it formed pyrocumulonimbus clouds. I'll post the picture when she gets home. It's like something strange I've never seen before...
So, if you're ever planning a visit to my home state, which I love and cherish, just remember: Oklahoma is the home of the ice-fire-quake-nado!
