Oklahoma Tornadoes: Stay Prepared - News9.com - Oklahoma City,
OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |  Oklahoma Tornadoes: Stay
Prepared  Posted: Updated:  Oklahoma has one of the best severe
weather warning systems in the world. A number of factors are
responsible for this terrific system. Experienced and highly
educated meteorologists, cutting-edge technology, competition,
topography (relatively flat in most areas), and a very weather
savvy public all play key roles in an effective warning
environment. However, I sometimes wonder to myself if we aren't
a bit too comfortable because of all those things I mentioned.
I know Oklahoma has a great system because we have received
numerous calls and email messages in the News9 weather
department from people who didn't know how good they had it
until they moved. The F-5 tornado on May 3, 1999 and the F-4
tornado on May 8, 2003 both illustrate how good the system has
worked in the past. The 44 fatalities on May 3, 1999 was
exceptionally low when you consider that mo