March 6, 2008

Winter Storm Warning #3: Will they get it right this time?

Below is the Winter Storm Warning we received this afternoon. So far, our other warnings, predicting between 4 to 10 inches of snow, have each produced a dusting and snow up to 2 inches. I'm beginning to remember the story about the Boy Who Cried Wolf. Time will tell.

LIGHT SNOW LATE THIS MORNING WAS SPREADING OVER MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION INDICATED BY RADAR WAS ALOFT WITH ONLY ISOLATED SURFACE REPORTS OF VERY LIGHT RAIN AND SNOW. PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY DURING THE AFTERNOON. SNOW MAY BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES...ESPECIALLY THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT...AS THE UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM APPROACHES FROM THE WEST.

SNOWFALL TOTALS OF 5 TO 8 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE IN THE WARNING AREA...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS APPROACHING 10 INCHES IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN AREAS OF NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AND BENEATH CONVECTIVE BANDS THAT ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE OVER SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA LATER TODAY ISOLATED THUNDER WITH SNOW IS POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA.

PRECIPITATION WILL LIKELY REMAIN RAIN OR A MIXTURE OF RAIN AND SNOW IN FAR SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA THIS AFTERNOON... WITH A GRADUAL CHANGE TO ALL SNOW TONIGHT. SNOWFALL TOTALS OF 4 TO 6 INCHES...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS...ARE POSSIBLE FOR THIS PORTION OF THE WARNING THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING.

ROAD CONDITIONS WILL WORSEN LATE TODAY AND ESPECIALLY TONIGHT. ADDITIONALLY... THE EXPECTED SNOWFALL RATES WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO BELOW ONE HALF MILE AT TIMES...WHICH WILL FURTHER WORSEN DRIVING CONDITIONS. TRAVEL BY TONIGHT ACROSS THE WARNING AREA WILL BE DISCOURAGED.

THIS WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT WINTER WEATHER IS EXPECTED. GUSTY WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

March 3, 2008

March 3-9 is National Sleep Awareness Week

The National Sleep Foundation, whose goal is make the public aware of the life and death importance of sleep, has designated this week as National Sleep Awareness Week.

If you have trouble sleeping and are often exhausted for "no reason," I urge you to go to their Web site and educate yourself about the importance of sleep in your daily life. Sleep, or lack thereof, greatly affects your health, mood, driving ability and job performance. It is important to know the difference between being normally tired and having a sleeping disorder.

Sleep disorders often go undiagnosed for years. I've heard, "It's normal to be tired; you work and have kids." "How late do you stay up at night?" "You're no different from anyone else," and here's the best one, "You're a middle-age woman getting ready to go through menopause. It's normal to gain weight and be tired."

EXCUSE ME????!!! It is NOT normal to fall asleep in your car while sitting at a red light, or to fall asleep standing up, only to be jolted awake by buckling knees. It is NOT normal to think you are awake in a meeting or classroom because you can hear someone talking in a faroff voice, yet when a sudden word or noise jolts you back to consciousness, you realize you were really sleeping and didn't absorb anything that was said. It is NOT normal to converse with your spouse at night (and THINK you are being attentive), only to have him say, "Let's go to bed. You're eyes are rolling up into the back of your head."

I've had doctors prescribe "get more exercise"; walk a mile a day before work to jump-start my energy. I stayed with early morning two mile walks for three months. The results of that walking put me to sleep at my desk FASTER and earlier than before the exercise. I gained more weight because I was eating sweets and candy to keep me awake during the day. The sugar-rush would last less than 30 minutes and my brain would shutdown again; it didn't want sugar - which my body stored - it wanted sleep.

Getting doctors to prescribe sleep studies can be frustrating and insurance companies balk at the expense , but sleep studies are necessary tools in identifying sleeping disorders.

So, check out the NSF's Great American Sleep Challenge: Take the quizes, read the FAQs, and educate yourself about the topic of sleep. It's important.