The Silent Impact: Storm Anxiety in Oklahoma

Tornadoes have killed at least one Oklahoman each year from 2007 through 2016, the longest continuous stretch on record. Many of these deaths have occurred as the result of significant tornadoes in central Oklahoma. Of the state’s 339 tornado deaths since 1950, 25% were the result of four tornadoes in the Oklahoma City Metro area (1999, 2011, 2013). These statistics do not address the impacts these events have had on the people who experienced - either directly or indirectly - these terrible events.

Many people in and around central Oklahoma experience some level of storm anxiety, ranging from uneasiness to full-blown anxiety and phobia. National Weather Service and media meteorologists working in Oklahoma routinely interact with storm anxiety sufferers when thunderstorms are in the forecast. Meteorologists field repeated phone calls or respond to frequent social media messages from those who are concerned, nervous, scared or in some cases incapacitated by fears that seem to be triggered - at least in part - by the outlooks, forecasts and other information they are receiving from the weather enterprise.

Previous studies by Westefeld and Coleman et al. have attempted to quantify the level of storm anxiety/phobia in limited sample populations around the country, but no such study has been conducted to focus on central Oklahoma. We believe the unique combination of several elements, including the tornado frequency, recent history of significant impactful tornadoes, and increasing exposure to severe weather information from a growing variety of sources makes central Oklahoma a prime area for research on storm anxiety.