[blanning]

My family and I are planning our return to the US after living in South America for 7 years. We're thinking of going to the Oklahoma City area. We want 5+ acres, rural but close enough to get into town for restaurants, shopping, etc. After a few days of internet research, it seems like Cleveland county south and east of Norman looks about right.

We want as much freedom as possible. This includes farm animals, trailers, houses, tiny houses, RVs, hunting, fishing, off-grid living... we're very conservative and mainly want to be left alone by govco... as few permits, regulation, and restrictions as possible.

I also need reliable internet. Non-oversold 30 megabit over 4G is fine. But I'd prefer fiber.

Is that area a good area for what we want? Or should I be looking north (or some other direction) of OKC instead?

Realistically, what's the tornado threat?

We're planning a trip around December to see the area in person and maybe look at properties.

Thanks

[StillwaterTownie]

Rather than tornadoes, I think you'll more likely be troubled by big hail storms, very high wind gusts from severe thunderstorms and possibly an ice storm. Rural people may have to wait for as long as a week or two before they can get their electrical power restored after a bad ice storm, if you're on the grid.

For something to the north, along Highway 105 east of Guthrie looks charming. It has some trees and the land is kinda hilly. It's probably not too far from Edmond and north Oklahoma City. But Cleveland County is surely a good place to start.

[Threestep2]

Rural, off the grid and fiber. You may have to set priorities.

[blanning]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

Rather than tornadoes, I think you'll more likely be troubled by big hail storms, very high wind gusts from severe thunderstorms and possibly an ice storm. Rural people may have to wait for as long as a week or two before they can get their electrical power restored after a bad ice storm, if you're on the grid.

For something to the north, along Highway 105 east of Guthrie looks charming. It has some trees and the land is kinda hilly. It's probably not too far from Edmond and north Oklahoma City. But Cleveland County is surely a good place to start.

We used to live in the Indianapolis area. And it's looking like the weather there is similar... too warm to prevent the snow and ice, but not quite cold enough to make it just snow. In Indy, you got snow sometimes, but frequently it was sleet and freezing rain which as you said downs power lines. One morning I had half and inch of ice on the driver's side of my car, which made it impenetrable. But on the passenger side, there wasn't any at all.

If the power goes out that much, we could just get a generator and a big tank of diesel I guess.

We have plans to do some small-scale greenhouses and collecting rainwater in tanks. I'll have to think that through considering the weather.

What's good snow fall there? A couple inches or a couple feet?

I discovered Guthrie earlier today. So that's looking interesting also. It looks like cell coverage is spotty in Cleveland county though. We'll test wherever we go though so maybe it doesn't matter.

[blanning]

Originally Posted by Threestep

Rural, off the grid and fiber. You may have to set priorities.

Definitely. I want fiber. But the truth is I dont really need it. I was tethering through a t-mobile cell phone at my mother's place in florida and getting a reliable 30 megabit. I'd be totally happy with that. And it should be doable in a rural setting.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by blanning

What's good snow fall there? A couple inches or a couple feet?

Two to four inches several times a winter is more like it. Some winters hardly have snow. It has never snowed as much as two ft. in the Oklahoma City area. But it has snowed a foot before. That much seldom happens.

[Bass&Catfish2008]

Originally Posted by blanning

We used to live in the Indianapolis area. And it's looking like the weather there is similar... too warm to prevent the snow and ice, but not quite cold enough to make it just snow. In Indy, you got snow sometimes, but frequently it was sleet and freezing rain which as you said downs power lines. One morning I had half and inch of ice on the driver's side of my car, which made it impenetrable. But on the passenger side, there wasn't any at all.

If the power goes out that much, we could just get a generator and a big tank of diesel I guess.

We have plans to do some small-scale greenhouses and collecting rainwater in tanks. I'll have to think that through considering the weather.

What's good snow fall there? A couple inches or a couple feet?

I discovered Guthrie earlier today. So that's looking interesting also. It looks like cell coverage is spotty in Cleveland county though. We'll test wherever we go though so maybe it doesn't matter.

My wife spent several years in the Midwest (Indianapolis area) and she has told me that Oklahoma is generally much much more mild down here than up there in Indy.

The snow fall is minimal here. Every three to four years you might get some snowfall that will stay on the ground for a few days. This past late December and early January we had an unusually cold few weeks with some snowfall that stayed on the ground longer than the usual snowfall in the night/morning and then the sun breaking through to melt everything.

Ice storms and sleet do occur but again, it's usually only a few days at most. Icy roads will be your biggest problem during the winter months (Winter in Oklahoma = usually starts to get below 50 degrees in mid to late December until the first part of March) because the sun will melt the ice and then when it gets dark again it freezes. But usually this is no longer than 5-7 days on average (and that might be overestimating it a bit).

In regards to the rainwater tanks, if you're in Cleveland County, an area that I spent a lot of my childhood in along with south-central Oklahoma, your rainfall could vary greatly. The general rule is that the eastern part of Oklahoma is more like the South with more frequent rainfall (hence it being called "Green Country") and the western part of Oklahoma is much more like the Southwest with less rainfall. Cleveland County virtually straddles these two topographic regions of the state. I will say that, now that I live further east of I-35, it seems like we get a lot more rainfall and my lawn is downright soggy sometimes. In the time that I spent in Cleveland County I just do not remember getting much rain and certainly the ground never got soggy.

Coming from the Midwest, the thing that you will have to get used to the most is that the temps get extremely hot here from late May generally to mid to late September. That will be your biggest adjustment in my opinion. If you're used to the heat (coming from wherever you're coming from) then I do not think you'll have a problem at all.

Best of luck with your plans to move, and it is standard procedure that all folks/transplants moving into Oklahoma have to learn the State song.

Blessings!

[blanning]

Originally Posted by Bass&Catfish2008

My wife spent several years in the Midwest (Indianapolis area) and she has told me that Oklahoma is generally much much more mild down here than up there in Indy.

The snow fall is minimal here. Every three to four years you might get some snowfall that will stay on the ground for a few days. This past late December and early January we had an unusually cold few weeks with some snowfall that stayed on the ground longer than the usual snowfall in the night/morning and then the sun breaking through to melt everything.

That's good to hear. We spent 12 years in Chicago also. There's nothing like opening your front door to find a 3 foot wall of snow. That winter we had so much snow it buried my daughter's car. It was a red car... totally invisible. It looked like a big pile of snow.

Ice storms and sleet do occur but again, it's usually only a few days at most. Icy roads will be your biggest problem during the winter months (Winter in Oklahoma = usually starts to get below 50 degrees in mid to late December until the first part of March) because the sun will melt the ice and then when it gets dark again it freezes. But usually this is no longer than 5-7 days on average (and that might be overestimating it a bit).

Yep. Indy did this a lot... black ice. Indy was even worse than Chicago about this. Chicago froze and stayed that way. The thawing and refreezing made things more dangerous.

In regards to the rainwater tanks, if you're in Cleveland County, an area that I spent a lot of my childhood in along with south-central Oklahoma, your rainfall could vary greatly. The general rule is that the eastern part of Oklahoma is more like the South with more frequent rainfall (hence it being called "Green Country") and the western part of Oklahoma is much more like the Southwest with less rainfall. Cleveland County virtually straddles these two topographic regions of the state. I will say that, now that I live further east of I-35, it seems like we get a lot more rainfall and my lawn is downright soggy sometimes. In the time that I spent in Cleveland County I just do not remember getting much rain and certainly the ground never got soggy.

It looks like we're leaning more towards the Guthrie area now. But we'll definitely visit Cleveland County while we're there.

Coming from the Midwest, the thing that you will have to get used to the most is that the temps get extremely hot here from late May generally to mid to late September. That will be your biggest adjustment in my opinion. If you're used to the heat (coming from wherever you're coming from) then I do not think you'll have a problem at all.

What's extremely hot? We're coming from Uruguay in South America. So the weather is similar to South Carolina, only with more rain.

I tolerate the heat well these days. But my wife not so much. (edit: my wife doesn't tolerate the heat. I tolerate my wife just fine. lol)

We've also lived in the Orlando area for years. The heat there is more than either of us would like.

Best of luck with your plans to move, and it is standard procedure that all folks/transplants moving into Oklahoma have to learn the State song.

Blessings!

lol. Trust me, you don't want to hear me sing.

[Bass&Catfish2008]

If you've lived in South America and you've lived in Florida, I just do not think there will be a big adjustment for you heat-wise. Both areas that you have been in are extremely humid.

Here in Oklahoma the humidity can be felt, but it's not like those areas. I remember living in Florida and getting upset after I had just taken a shower, walking outside and feeling I needed to shower off again.

Oklahoma just gets hot. Some people do not like it. Because I lived in some cold weather areas for a time (New England and northern Nevada) I just do mind the heat at all. I would much rather have warm/hot weather than cold weather. That's just me.

It sounds like you have lived a lot of places. I really do not think you'll have that hard of a time adjusting to the weather.

[Atlguy39]

Originally Posted by Bass&Catfish2008

If you've lived in South America and you've lived in Florida, I just do not think there will be a big adjustment for you heat-wise. Both areas that you have been in are extremely humid.

Here in Oklahoma the humidity can be felt, but it's not like those areas. I remember living in Florida and getting upset after I had just taken a shower, walking outside and feeling I needed to shower off again.

Oklahoma just gets hot. Some people do not like it. Because I lived in some cold weather areas for a time (New England and northern Nevada) I just do mind the heat at all. I would much rather have warm/hot weather than cold weather. That's just me.

It sounds like you have lived a lot of places. I really do not think you'll have that hard of a time adjusting to the weather.

Agree on the weather. I grew up in South Florida, and I'd never move back. Winters are a pain in the butt here. Frozen power lines, ice storms, etc. Spring is bad with tornadoes no matter where you are in Oklahoma, but Moore is the worst. I don't like the weather here at all, but summers here are slightly better than South Florida.