04/25/2026
This is a repost of a post I’ve made before. With the potential for bad weather today, I’d like to share it again.
I apologize ahead of time for the length of this post but I felt that it was good information for those who don’t have good resources for keeping an eye on the weather. I’ve posted most of this information before but I wanted to go ahead and send it again today with the possibility of severe weather across much of Oklahoma. I’m sure many of you have some way(s) of getting severe weather notification but in case you don’t, I am a weather nerd and wanted to let you know what I use.
Your local TV weather is often a good resource. They can give you up-to-the-minute information for your specific area and many of them have storm chasers on the ground sending video and pictures back to the station. But there are downsides to this. Many times, if there’s not a tornado involved, TV stations won’t break into programming. Plus, they may not cover the storm that’s headed your way if there is a more severe storm somewhere else. And where I live, we get our local stations via DirecTV. This is okay until it’s pouring rain and the satellite signal goes away.
The first non-TV resource I use is the National Weather Service. The western side of Oklahoma is serviced by the Norman office, whose website is https://www.weather.gov/oun/. The eastern side of Oklahoma is serviced by the Tulsa office, whose website is https://www.weather.gov/tsa/. This allows you to do some pre-planning, especially on severe weather days. They show forecasts, graphics, and other information. Being a government website, there are a LOT of links to more data than most people can even process (even including weather nerds like me). It can be good for showing the types and locations of any watches or warnings by county in their area. You can click on the county and it will list any watches or warnings for that county. I like using this feature to click on individual warnings, which will show you the text of the warning that comes directly from the National Weather Service. These will detail times, where the storm(s) were located, and what types of hazards are contained in the storm(s). One thing the NWS is lacking is push notifications. They may have a smart phone app that does that but I’ve never looked for one.
The main app I use on my iPhone is called ATs Weather To Go. It is available on both the Apple and Android stores. It is a free app that has one of the most accurate weather radars I’ve seen on a phone app. It gives current weather information such as temperature, wind, humidity, etc. like pretty much any other weather app you can find. But what I really like about it is it gives location-specific warnings for several locations that you can specify. For example, I have my home, our office, and my girls’ school programmed into the app. By default, the app always gives you notifications based on your current location, as long as you enable location services on your smart phone for that app. You can also select which types of watches and warnings for which you would like notifications. In addition, it has proprietary software that will give you a BTI, which stands for Baron Tornado Index. BTI measures the likelihood that a particular storm contains rotation that could produce a tornado. I usually ignore a BTI of 4.0 or less but once it goes over 4.0, I start paying attention. Anything 7.0 or higher should make you go to your storm shelter. The only downside to ATs Weather To Go is that the notification sound for storms is not loud enough to wake me up while I’m sleeping.
To wake me up while I’m sleeping, I use a service called Weather Call. You can sign up for this service at https://weathercallservices.com/. This one costs around $10 per year but in my opinion, is well worth that small amount of money. You enter your specific address into the website. It’s been a while since I set mine up but I believe you can select the types of warnings for which you would like a call, and I also believe you can enter multiple addresses and receive text alerts too. I use it only for thunderstorm and tornado warnings. If the address(es) you entered are in the path of a storm, you will receive a call that plays a recorded message telling you the type of notification you are receiving. Southeastern Oklahoma tends to get most of its severe weather after dark, and this app has woke me up many times in the middle of the night. Once I’m awake, I check the ATs Weather To Go app and the NWS website, and start planning accordingly.
Additionally, if you have a police scanner, in many areas, you can actually listen to the storm spotters during severe weather and get the storm reports directly from those folks who are monitoring the weather. It’s helped me more than once to avoid a storm I might not have known about. There are resources online that will tell you the frequencies of emergency management, police, and fire. Plus, most scanners are capable of picking up the weather radio signal from the National Weather Service.
I hope we all dodge the bad stuff today and tonight but please keep an eye on things, as they have the potential to be bumpy today and tonight.
Take care and be safe!
