The not so Zen of Oklahoma Weather

Rather than just deleting my previous blog entry, where I claimed Spring had arrived in Oklahoma, to remove proof of my error, I will just admit it. The weather in Oklahoma will make a fool out of you any time you make absolute statements. The next surrounding 48hrs will be the perfect example.

Today it was a beautiful Spring day. By mid day the temperature was reaching up to the low 70’s (about 73) and there was a nice cool breeze in the air. The sun was shining which made the day warm and wonderful. In my haste to take advantage of it, I found an opportunity to go for a ride this evening (not that I really needed an excuse, but it is nice to have a destination sometimes.)

The wife and I headed out about 3p to look at a car found on Craigslist for her. (I have promised her a convertible, a story for another entry.) We headed down historic Route 66 to The Rock Café, which if you have not heard of it, was an inspiration for the Pixar movie Cars (the Porche is based on Dawn the owner.) From there we rode on down to Shawnee to look at a classic 1969 Chevy Impala, which unfortunately turned out not to be what we had hoped for.

As we stopped at Micky D’s (McDonald’s for the uninitiated) for my sweet tea addiction where we got an interesting question from a police officer. He asked which way we were headed? I thought he was asking because there was rain coming in from the west and north and he was going to warn us. NO!!! he was wanting to make sure we were aware of the weather coming in tomorrow.

See this is Oklahoma, and while it was a beautiful sunny 73 today, tonight it is raining and the temp is dropping constantly. Tomorrow it is going to drop on down past 32 and start snowing, expected accumulation 6-8 inches! Yes, 73degrees to 6-8inches of snow in 36hrs! Only in Oklahoma!

So as we readjusted our route home, because the route we took already was getting rain and had dropping temps we hit the road. Across the great American Highway 40 to Henryetta we rode, and then up to home. At Henryetta the temperature was still in the 70’s though cloudy. However as we rode North you could see the clouds gather, and the wind pick up. Then it began, a sprinkle, which wasn’t a big deal. But as the sprinkle began, the temperature dropped precipitously. The sprinkling was enough the last 10 miles my safety glasses were getting wet, and between there and home the temp dropped from 70 to 51. Gotta Love Oklahoma Weather. Like I said, 3h50min of great riding 10m of cold wet misery. (worst part is I had to admit I was wrong…may Spring return quickly)


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