WEDNESDAY WEATHER REPORT

Good Wednesday Mornin' Yall,

I do hope that everyone had a great Tuesday and survived it and ready to start a new day. It is currently 25 degrees with a windchill of 18 degrees. The winds are currently out of the West at 6 mph. Yes my friends, read the temperature right. Yesterday was just a total washout plus a very wicked windy day here. Oh, let me tell ya, I've never seen anything like it that I can remember. The high got up to 67 degrees here yesterday. When I posted yesterday morning, it was raining some. After I came home from taking the girls to School, it was still raining. Later on, the bottom fell out. And I do mean fell completely out. I bet from 9:00a.m. to 1:00p.m. we got about 3 to 4 inches of rain. Not only did it rain hard, the wind was blowing something fierce. So we had a very hard and heavy blowing rain. Then, around noonish, they put us under a Tornado Watch until 7:00p.m. last night. Well, around 1:45p.m., we got another round of very heavy and hard rain with the wind still blowing like crazy. Then, around 2:30p.m. guess what? The Sun came out. Yep, it sure did. Oh, but the wind was still blowing. It never let up. Well, after the girls got in from School around 3:45p.m., we were sitting here in the living room and I was on the computer, the lights started flickering. They flickered a couple of times and went off. That lasted about a minute and the lights came back on. Around 4:10p.m., the lights went off again. This time they stayed off. And I do mean they stayed off. Our elelctricity just came back on around 3:15a.m. this morning. We had no electricity for 11 hours. Oh, and the wind kept blowing and howling also. It started turning colder late yesterday afternoon before dark. I kept waiting for the electricity to come back on so I could fix supper, but it didn't. I guess around 5:45p.m., me and the girls went out to the local Quick Shop. This is a little store where we buy our gas and they make sandwiches and sell a few groceries as well. They had no electricity either, but they did have a generator going. The whole town was without electricity. We went into the Quick Shop and ordered us some sandwiches. They couldn't use their Microwave or other heating ovens tho. But there is nothing wrong with having a cold sandwich. This little store was really busy too. Since the whole town was without electricity, seems like everyone was coming to the store to get sandwiches or some sandwich meats. Me and the girls sat there in the store and ate our sandwiches. They have some tables with chairs and a little bar to sit at as well. The owner and a few customers in the store were saying there were some poles down across the road and that was why the electicity was off. The owner was also making coffee for people who was out working in the very windy and colder air. I thought that was so sweet of him to do that. By the time we got ready to leave the store, it had done got dark. We were going down the highway and there was no Street Lights on as well. It was total darkness outside. We made a block and came home. We have this thing, I can't remember what it's called, that when the electricity goes out, you can plug something with small voltage in it. So, I plugged in a lamp that uses a 40 watt bulb. This thing also has on one end a double flourescent bulb on it that can be used as well. You can also jump start a vehicle with it too. Anyway, it was starting to get chilly in the house. About 8:30p.m., I told the girls to put their pajama's on and to get in bed and stay under the covers. Our youngest daughter still sleeps with me and DH, but our oldest daughter sleeps in her own bed. I tried to get our oldest daughter to get in the bed with me and our youngest daughter, but she just refused. So, I told her to be sure and cover up really good. She had plenty of covers on her bed. Before we had layed down, I called the Power Company to see how long the electricity would be out. They told me that there had been some severe damage in the area and the ESTIMATED time for everything to come back on was around Midnight. My Sister had called me earlier and said that on Highway 63, it's like an Interstate and will be changed to I-555 in the near future, that between Trumann, AR, and Bay, AR, there were 2 18-Wheelers that had been blown over. She was on her way to Jonesboro to take her dog to a friend's house because the wind had blown her chain link fence over and had some damage to it. She said that their electricity in Lepanto, AR was out as well. My Mom had called me as we were going into the Quick Shop to let me know that their electricity had come back on. Anyway, later on, my Sister calls back and she is on her way home from Jonesboro. She said that the Northbound Lane on Highway 63 had another 18-Wheeler that had been blown over. She said that traffic was at a standstill and backed up. My Mom had wanted us to come down there to stay the night with them, but I wasn't about to get out on the roads with the way the winds were blowing. It was just fierce I tell ya. About 10:30p.m., I dozed off and went to sleep. I woke up around Midnight and the lights were still off. It had done got pretty chilly inside the house here. It was okay as long as you were under the covers, but if you got out from under the covers, it was cold. I was thinking of the girls, so I got up and went into the kitchen and turned the oven and burners on. We have a gas stove, but I still couldn't cook without no lights for seeing. About 12:45a.m., I got the girls up and we all came into the front room. It was a bit warmer in here with the oven and burners going. We had some heavy quilts over us as well. Finally about 2:15a.m., our youngest daughter wanted to go back and get in the bed. She was having a hard time going back to sleep. So, I turned the oven and burners off and we went back to bed. As I was about to go off into a deep sleep, the electricity came back on about 3:15a.m. I sure was glad. I told my youngest daughter that I was going to go ahead and stay up and fix me some coffee and for her to get some sleep. So, both girls are sleeping now and I am drinking my first cup of coffee. My Mom also told me earlier when she called that in Pocahontas, AR, which us North of us, had some damage to their School. They had cancelled classes for today up there. Now, if your interested in seeing some of the damage around here in our area, you can go to http://www.kait8.com/ and see some pictures from there. Since I couldn't watch t.v. last night, I seen it a little while ago once the electricity came back on. My Sister had told me earlier that while she was going to Jonesboro, that she heard on one of the Jonesboro Radio Stations that the Winds had been up to 70 mph. I don't doubt it for one bit. But we are all okay here where we live at. I'm sure there are some tree branches blown down from trees, but I won't know or see any damage until it gets daylight. The high today is only suppose to be 42 degrees and windy again. I don't think it's going to be as windy as yesterday. I sure hope not anyway. Rain is back in the forecast for tomorrow and they are saying we could see some Snow with it. Now, don't go doing the "HAPPY DANCE" for me. LOL. I think the Snow will be to the North of us. Oh, we may see a flake or two, but nothing to write home about. I know they have already posted some Winter Weather Advisory's out for some Missouri Counties that are in our Region 8 viewing area. Since KAIT8 is in Jonesboro and that is where we get our local news and weather, Region 8 covers several counties here in Arkansas and Missouri. But anyway, that is why I named my post for today, WEDNESDAY WEATHER REPORT. I hope you don't mind that I posted about it, but I had checked my emails before starting on this post and I had a couple of friends that were concerned about us here. I'm just "THANKFUL" it wasn't any worse than what it was.

My DH didn't get to make it home early this morning like they normally do. The last time I talked to him was around 10:00p.m. last night, and he had just gone thru Alburquerque, NM. They will probably get into Memphis, TN this afternoon just in time to pick up the other load and head North with it. He said that being shut down the other day in Wyoming had set them back about 12 hours. He will call me this morning before he goes to bed and let me know what's going on with him. I know so many of you have been praying for my DH and his Uncle, and I appreciate it very much.

The girls are having their Sports pictures made today. At least I hope they still are. I don't know what time they will have them made, but they have to take their Uniforms to School and after the pictures are made, they have to turn the Uniforms back in to the School. They didn't get to take their baths last night like they normally do every night. I sure didn't want them taking one without any heat. I will get them up this morning and let them wash off real good and that will have to do for today. It's not like they got dirty yesterday at School anyway. They didn't go outside at recess because it was raining. When they came home from School, I wouldn't let them go outside either because of the fierce winds blowing. I know I probably sound like a mean Mother, but I sure didn't want to take a chance on them getting sick and having to miss alot of School. Last night, our girls got a taste of what it was like living without electricity. They asked me alot of questions and even compared it to Laura Ingalls Wilder days. Even tho we had no electricity last night, we had a good time just sitting around and talking.

Well, guess I'll go for now. I just poured myself a second cup of coffee. I think I will go visiting because some of you hadn't posted yesterday afternoon and I couldn't visit last night. So, don't think it wasn't because I didn't want to visit, but without electricity, I couldn't visit. I hope you will understand. Take care my friends and have a great day. May God Bless Each and Everyone of You.

LOVE & HUGS,