The radar screen confirmed what the torrential rain was suggesting Sunday morning: Tropical Storm Erin had confused Oklahoma for the Gulf Coast.
Advertisement
In what the National Weather Service termed "an extraordinary event,” the storm re-intensified just south of the Red River and developed sustained winds greater than tropical storm magnitude.
The result: Numerous towns and cities received 5 inches or more of rain, and a several volunteer observers for the Oklahoma Climatological Survey reported 10-plus inches.
"It's not uncommon for the remains of a tropical system or the moisture from one of those storms to have some impact in Oklahoma,” said Rick Smith, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
"But certainly, to see what we saw on satellite, where the system reorganized and had the look of a very well-organized system like you'd see over the Atlantic or the gulf, that's really rare,” he said.
The storm system hardly resembled what a tropical storm, or even a hurricane, is supposed to look like three days and 450 miles after landfall.
"If you removed the map and took that satellite image and put it out in the Gulf of Mexico somewhere, you couldn't tell the difference from a tropical storm,” Smith said.
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Fitness and Nutrition
Visit NewsOK's latest Know it and find out why proper diet and exercise are key.
More Info
This image provided by the Oklahoma Mesonet shows the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin as it moved across Oklahoma just before 6 a.m. Sunday. provided by Oklahoma's Mesonet
Related to this story
Articles
No Headline 08/20/2007 Oklahomans are expected to be busy today assessing damages, looking for missing people and helping those displaced by flooding and other storm damage after...
1
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).