[amccom]

MIght have to relocated to OK. Accustom to living in snowy cold regions of the U.S. so this will be change. This question will seem silly but... when I view the random devastation from your Tornadoes I have to ask this question. Is there any place in OK where they do not hit? Has a scientific study be made to determine the "safe" place to live in OK?
I notice even brand new structures built with modern construction techniques are wiped off the map. Home owners insurance down there must be outrageous? On the 3 bedroom typical suburban house...what are the rates for say a 200,000 house??? One person interviewed on TV is on their 4th rebuild. Is insurance Federally subsidized???

[StillwaterTownie]

There may very will be a bunch of places in Oklahoma with no recorded tornado having hit, but they're probably remote little hick towns where few people would want to live. There's surely few places in this country really entirely safe from bad weather. An area in Colorado recently got up to 15, or so, inches of rain.

Insurance on a $200,000 house will definitely be over $1000 for a year. Those were the good 'ol days with it was under that.

More than ever before, Oklahomans are seeing the need for a storm shelter for their home. I saw that need nearly 10 years ago when I made sure that a house I was having built included a safe room. Meanwhile, people on their 4th rebuild must need to try building someplace else.

Keep in mind in your move to Oklahoma, if you do, that huge hail storms are also a bad weather nuisance and another reason why home insurance isn't cheap.

[swake]

Originally Posted by amccom

MIght have to relocated to OK. Accustom to living in snowy cold regions of the U.S. so this will be change. This question will seem silly but... when I view the random devastation from your Tornadoes I have to ask this question. Is there any place in OK where they do not hit? Has a scientific study be made to determine the "safe" place to live in OK?
I notice even brand new structures built with modern construction techniques are wiped off the map. Home owners insurance down there must be outrageous? On the 3 bedroom typical suburban house...what are the rates for say a 200,000 house??? One person interviewed on TV is on their 4th rebuild. Is insurance Federally subsidized???

Tornadoes are small and someone being hit four times is a very extreme example. By far the vast majority of structures in Oklahoma have never been touched by a tornado, probably 99% of homes never have been, if not more. Even when a tornado does hit and destroys a house another building just 100 feet away will be untouched. People from back east seem to think it's damage on a scale like a hurricane but with more devastation. It's nothing like that kind of widespread damage. In 30+ years here I have seen a small tornado in the clouds once and have never seen one on the ground.

Hail damage to roofs drives insurance rates a lot more than tornadoes do.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by swake

Hail damage to roofs drives insurance rates a lot more than tornadoes do.

Hail storms are also small and not very widespread. One year, my friend on the other side of town had hail damage on her car from a storm. On my side of town, the hail was smaller and not as numerous, so my car got little, if any damage.

[rockyinyourradio]

Originally Posted by amccom

MIght have to relocated to OK. Accustom to living in snowy cold regions of the U.S. so this will be change. This question will seem silly but... when I view the random devastation from your Tornadoes I have to ask this question. Is there any place in OK where they do not hit? Has a scientific study be made to determine the "safe" place to live in OK?
I notice even brand new structures built with modern construction techniques are wiped off the map. Home owners insurance down there must be outrageous? On the 3 bedroom typical suburban house...what are the rates for say a 200,000 house??? One person interviewed on TV is on their 4th rebuild. Is insurance Federally subsidized???

Where were you thinking about relocating to here in Okla.? the area within 30 miles of OKC average at least one or two confirmed tornado touch downs per year with one EF2 tornado or greater every other year(about 110mph+). Highest chances are from mid March thru early June with the peak anytime in May. The Tulsa area averages about 1 touch down every other year, with an EF2 or greater every 3 years.

As what was earlier stated, the vast majority of people who have lived here all their lives have never been directly affected. Our warning system here is THE BEST hands down over any other place in the country. We have the best also when it comes to our TV meteorologists who are indispensable in keeping the public safe.

[linicx]

I've lived in tornado prone areas all my life. I've watched straight-line winds roar down a major street from inside a business, and I've been inside my home during straight line winds. I've seen scuds form outside my door. I've seen the aftermath of Katrina and Rita in NOLA, and the mess the EF5 made at Joplin, MO. Weather may not be fun, but it is always interesting. I don't know that any weather watcher would agree, but this is what I've noticed.

Most tornadoes I've seen in OK, MO and IL form in plains often near large bodies of water such as rivers, Most move SW to NE. among unobstructed areas. Most of the places where I've seen tornadic activity are near, or divided by (or spans), a busy Interstate highway. Most were compact cities of over 50,000 with much smaller towns (not suburbs) nearby.

Places I've lived that did not experience direct contact tornadic activity were not near a 4-lane highway, were less than 30,000 population, were surrounded by cliffs, hills, and/or heavily forested areas, but were NOT in an established tornado pattern.

Many tornadoes are short lived nuisance storms that form in the high humidity cornfields and cause little, if any, damage. It is the SUPER CELL that stays on ground the longest, travels the farthest, can possibly spawn one or more tornadoes, and does the most damage to the largest area of population

When I look back over 25 years or so, I think of the tornadic storms I remember OKC, Tulsa, and Miami, OK, Joplin, Pierce City, and Springfield, MO, and one in Crawford County Kansas near Pittsburg. I was living on US 60 in Springfield, MO when my house was hit by the straight-line winds and also hail. Weather wise it was a very busy night for weather spotters.

It was a late one summer afternoon in the early 1980s when the tornado hit the south and west part of Springfield. It was my introduction to Tornado Alley in the Bible Belt. Other than a tree limb in the bedroom, and general chaos in the neighborhood, it wasn't a really bad storm by comparison; it could have been much worse.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by linicx

Most tornadoes I've seen in OK, MO and IL form in plains often near large bodies of water such as rivers, among unobstructed areas. Most of the places where I've seen tornadic activity are near, or divided by (or spans), a busy Interstate highway. Most were compact cities of over 50,000 with much smaller towns (not suburbs) nearby.

Places I've lived that did not experience direct contact tornadic activity were not near a 4-lane highway, were less than 30,000 population, were surrounded by cliffs, hills, and/or heavily forested areas, but were NOT in an established tornado pattern.

All of this is pure coincidence. Why are there more tornadoes in open fields than cities? Because there are more open fields than cities.

[linicx]

It seems to me if it was pure coincidence tornadoes would not strike in the same places. AFAIK Tornadoes do not spawn on concrete. Having said this, cornfields are extremely hot and humid, and the tornados do form in cornfields.

[Griffis]

Any areas Tornado free in OK?

No.

We are all doomed.

Abandon hope all ye....

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by linicx

It seems to me if it was pure coincidence tornadoes would not strike in the same places. AFAIK Tornadoes do not spawn on concrete. Having said this, cornfields are extremely hot and humid, and the tornados do form in cornfields.

You can not be serious.