One of the most valuable tools that storm spotters use is the National Weather Service's severe weather outlooks. These outlooks are color coded maps of the entire US which are revised often. Forecasters in the SPC(Storm Prediction Center) draw contours of 5 levels of severity to signify the chance of severe thunderstorms in a given area. Today, the SPC issued a enhanced 3/5 risk for tomorrow in central Texas. This is a clear signal to us that there will be powerful thunderstorms down there tomorrow.
Seeing that we will be making our way all the way down to Texas tomorrow, we decided to stay in Norman OK tonight. The drive down was thankfully uneventful. I'm glad to report that I'm not tired from driving at all. as we got closer to Norman, Owen spotted a cluster of thunderstorms to the north of and to the west of Norman. Since it was on the way, we decided to take a quick break and set up some lawn chairs on a gravel road a few miles away from a small storm cell. The main circulation of the cell was cut off my a more powerful storm to the south of it so it was unfortunately dwindling. However it was a good chance to see what it's like to get close to these storms and some good driving experience for me.
We continued on our path to Norman and now we've just checked in to our hotel.