by Teagan Halbrooks
I was born in Lawton, Okla., and have grown up four miles beyond the city limits. Severe weather has always been a part of my life. Sirens often sound when spring changes to summer, and summer to fall.
Living in Lawton means witnessing weather that changes in mere minutes.
Weather has always interested me, and I want to be a meteorologist. I would love chasing tornados and experiencing the thrill of trying to catch them in action.
From my front porch, I have spotted tornados on the horizon. The massive storms range in size and color, light gray becoming almost black. Tornados are often created during thunderstorms from cumulonimbus clouds.
Tornados do not seem to hit Lawton often. The city is near the Wichita Mountains, Lake Lawtonka and open fields.
But such geographical features don’t keep twisters away, said Richard Smith, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Center in Norman.
Someday, he said, another big one will strike.
I have never witnessed a tornado from its path, only seen from a distance the formation of monsters in the clouds as funnels develop and reach toward Earth.
No major tornado has hit Lawton since April 10, 1979, when three known as the Red River Valley Tornadoes formed in Texoma, the border area between Texas and Oklahoma along the Red River Valley.
Most of the 42 deaths occurred in Wichita Falls and Vernon, Texas, and in Lawton.
In contrast, 22 tornadoes have struck Moore, Okla., since 1893, according to the Weather Forecast Center.
Since Moore and Lawton are in “Tornado Alley,” why did none of those twisters hit Lawton 72 miles to the southwest?
Smith said the jet stream plays a role in tornado formation when it crosses Oklahoma.
Since Moore has been hit so often, I wonder if tornadoes have a mind of their own about avoiding certain places, especially my home.
“There is no scientific reason,” Smith said. “It’s just bad luck for the people in Moore. I think a tornado is just as likely to hit Lawton as it is to hit Moore.”
But even if one doesn’t hit Lawton, one day I will spot a tornado from its path.
