Thomas, OK – The crew entered the Sooner State on June 7, and the move down went really well. We still navigated our fair share of construction detours that often puts us on rural roads not ideal for oversized loads, but cloudy skies and cool weather made for great driving. Our two overnights had us sleeping in equipment dealerships, but it got so cool many of us found ourselves reaching for a blanket. That’s in stark contrasts to the hot and sticky nights we vividly remember on past moves, sometimes making it nearly impossible to sleep.
Of course no sooner than we arrived, a round of severe weather dumped inches of rain in the area. A Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) warning had been issued by the weather service, and soon flash flooding joined the list of warnings for much of Oklahoma and Texas. Thankfully the ultra-severe storms avoided us, and it allowed for a few days to unload equipment and do last minute tinkering before heading to the field. But later in the week the crew found themselves huddled in the back of a Walmart, tornado sirens blaring as a rare anti-cyclonic tornado passed by town. It was briefly visible from the parking lot, and it created bizarre cloud structures that both amazed and terrified.
Oklahoma gained the Sooner State nickname because of the people who showed up “too soon”, illegally entering before the Land Run of 1889 officially started. Sadly we’ve felt like Sooners ourselves, showing up before harvest started. Ridiculous rains, high humidity, and cloudy days have done little more than ensure weeds are starting to appear in fields. After ten days the crew has managed to combine less than ten hours. We did have the distinct honor of dumping the very first load at the elevator, and yields look promising despite the recent soggy weather.
It looked like this week’s weather would be a dramatic improvement, and soon we would get back into the fields. That was good news, because harvest has started in Southern Kansas before many of us have even begun here in Oklahoma. That’s leading to some very tricky logistics for nearly every harvester. But sooner turned into later. Again.
After two partial days of harvesting, and a zero percent chance of rain indicated that morning, another major storm system blew up across Kansas and Oklahoma. With cell phones blaring another round of storm warnings, we drove home in what appears to be Oklahoma’s monsoon season. We’ve made shockingly little harvest progress, but this wet weather pattern has refused to change. We’ve reached the point where dry weather is critical, so fingers crossed it shows up…sooner rather than later.
