March 2017
FRIDAY’S COMMENT AND EMAIL 3/10/17
Good morning, Here are a few of my thoughts and a very basic overview of our week from a fire standpoint. This has been a crazy week with all sorts of problems happening not just here in Garfield County but in Northwest Oklahoma. It started last Monday, a major fire on South Leona Mitchell Drive along the railroad tracks. That particular response involved Enid Fire and Waukomis Fire. We had 3 other rural departments’ en route [...]
FRIDAY MARCH 10,2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT First of all today I want to thank both radio stations for a successful drive to get water and accessories for all the folks dealing with the wildfires. It is greatly appreciated. I stated yesterday to keep your coats handy, well, I hope you did. You will notice we will be cooler today and even more so over the weekend. We look to get below freezing by Sunday morning [...]
THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT As of 0400 this morning, there is no Red Flag Warnings yet. There is a Grassland Fire Warning in effect for our western tier of counties and we have a few cold fronts that will affect the area starting today. Keep your coats handy for this weekend. Also, keep an umbrella handy as we MIGHT have a CHANCE for wet stuff falling from the sky. We can only hope [...]
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM UNTIL 9 PM TONIGHT The smoke issue should lessen today as winds will be southwesterly unless fire erupts in SW Oklahoma on a large scale. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen. I am going to ask folks to keep a very close eye out there for arsonists. We have a few here in the county and we need to get them caught. [...]
TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT THE RED FLAG FIRE WARNING IS STILL IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM TONIGHT. Many fires around the state yesterday continue to burn as I type. Our Garfield County Task Force will possibly deploy this morning out west. Not sure yet as we are still coordinating with state officials. We’ll advise as we continue coordination efforts. I cannot emphasize enough folks, DO NOT BURN ANYTHING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. As of [...]
MONDAY, MARCH 6, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT WE ARE IN A RED FLAG FIRE WARNING TODAY FROM 11AM UNTIL 8 PM TONIGHT. You all know the drill on this one. I will state this now-NO CONTROLLED BURNING TODAY AT ALL. If you start a fire and it gets out of control, you may be billed for the response and you will pay for any damage to other folks property. We are NOT in a burn ban BUT [...]
SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT I realize everyone is tired of the fire danger info. It has to be stated. So far for Sunday, we have no particular watches going on for our area. Monday, we are in a Fire Weather Watch. Again, you all know the drill. Report any smoke or fire that you see. Here is your forecast from the NWS/NORMAN ; Sunday- Cloudy, with a high near 67. South winds [...]
SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT AGAIN TODAY FROM NOON UNTIL 7PM. AGAIN, YOU ALL KNOW THE DRILL. CONTROLLED BURNING IS ONCE AGAIN DISCOURAGED. REPORT ANY SMOKE OR FIRE THAT YOU SEE TO 911 ASAP. There were several fires here in the county yesterday but fire crews were able to gain control quickly. That wasn’t the case on many fires in other counties. Our Fire Task Force didn’t have to [...]
FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT NWS HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING FROM 1100 (11AM) TO 2000 (8PM) LOCAL TIME. You all know the drill with warm temps, low humidity, and strong winds. Controlled burning is NOT advised. Report ANY smoke or fire that you see. Next week is EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT WEEK. I am going to do 5 short videos, one each on the following: PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE, MITIGATION, RECOVERY, and IMPLEMENTATION of the previous [...]
THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT First of all, sorry about the date issue yesterday. Allergies have the better of me right now and my mind got a bit overcast. Still overcast this morning but it’s clear outside and a bit chilly. That said my first graphic below shows how the weather could be outside right now so just keep in mind that we can have winter events in March and even into April. I [...]
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT Good morning, It appears we will continue to be high and dry for a while so as I have been stating, be extremely careful utilizing anything fire related. You may even want to water the yard. Speaking of today, WEDNESDAY, this is test day for our Notifications systems so between 1130 and 1300 local time, we will send out a test message over our GARFIELD COUNTY EM APP and [...]
February 2017
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT. You all know what this means so be careful with anything having to do with fire. There are major weather risks for severe weather in eastern Oklahoma and farther east. If you plan on traveling, CHECK THE FORECAST FIRST and then travel with caution. Personally, I wouldn’t travel east of the state at all today if possible. If you want to feel [...]
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT Good morning, Again, no big issues to discuss right now so here is your forecast from the NWS/NORMAN; Today-20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Patchy fog before noon. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 66. East wind 8 to 11 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Tonight-Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49. South wind 9 to 13 mph. HAVE A GOOD DAY! MIKE
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT Good morning, Another one of those short and sweet days as not much is happening. That said; remember to download our GARFIELD COUNTY EM app as soon as you can so you will be up to the minute with information from your warning team here in Garfield County. Did I mention, WITHOUT THE DRAMA? Here is your forecast from the NWS/NORMAN; Sunday-Cloudy, with a high near 55. South southeast wind 5 [...]
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT Short and sweet for today.Remember that it's still winter as the temperatures outside prove. Keep a coat handy and remember to DISCONNECT hoses from your house when we get below freezing. Here is your forecast from the NWS/NORMAN; Saturday-Sunny, with a high near 47. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Saturday Night-Increasing clouds, with a low around 31. South southeast wind 7 to 10 [...]
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT If you go outside today, you will notice that it’s a bit cooler. We had a cold front move through the area and you will notice these cooler temps at least for the next 3 or 4 days. They will be up and down a few degrees but overall, cooler. The fire danger is still around even though we are cooler so report any smoke, fire, or any suspicious activity. [...]
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT We are in a RED FLAG WARNING FROM 1000L (10 AM) THROUGH 2100L (9 PM) TONIGHT. WARM TEMPS, LOW HUMIDITY, AND GUSTY WINDS ARE THE MAIN ISSUES. If you see smoke or fire, report it immediately. Controlled burning is NOT ADVISED. Several folks have complained about the NOAA alerts through our app. This channel is an automated feed for WARNINGS from the NWS. If you don’t want this on [...]
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT We are coordinating with Breckinridge officials to perform a storm siren test IN BRECKINRIDGE TODAY around noon. We normally set theirs off when we do ours so if you hear a storm siren in the Breckinridge area today, don’t panic, it’s just a secondary test. That said, we have been working on several of ours and we will test here in the Enid area on March 6th. In the [...]
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT Several folks have asked me if we are going to have a winter. That answer is yes. When it returns, it will be abrupt. Enjoy this mild weather as long as you can. This isn’t the first warmer than normal February we have experienced and it won’t be the last. As long as the skeeters are out of the picture, I’m happy. That said, I will keep this short and sweet [...]
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2017
FROM GARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT Good morning, We received a fair amount of rain last night and I don’t think anyone will really complain about that. According to the Mesonet sites here, the Lahoma site showed 1.45 inches, the Breckenridge site showed 1.06, and I have 1.60 inches here on the west side of Enid. Other areas may show a little more or less but either way, it was much needed rainfall. That [...]
