Tomorrow is my last day at KOCO-TV. I have had a happy and fulfilling six and a half years in Oklahoma, and I am leaving with many good memories. Arriving with my wife in 2000, we have doubled the size of our family, and will be leaving with two beautiful Okie children. We bought our first house in Oklahoma City, and I have developed a new hobby in home improvement. I am leaving a house that I have put gallons of sweat into, but also looking forward to the next project.

Wild Oklahoma weather was the reason we came to the Sooner state, and I was not disappointed. The Christmas storm in 2000 was a big snow producer, and a good welcome to the state. During the ice storm in 2002, I was out live in Bethany and Warr Acres, and I remember how thick the ice was, and the strong pine smell from all the trees downed. May 8 and 9 in 2003 were the big tornadoes that hit the Metro on back to back days. The rotation from the second storm went right over my neighborhood and headed toward the station. My wife and 4 month old were huddled in the closet. The storm produced a tornado about a mile southwest of my home. It lifted and then touched down again about 5 miles to the northeast. Not a tree limb down in the neighborhood. This second touchdown was just a quarter mile from the station, and it destroyed KOCO's neighbors to the east. We had panicked travelers take refuge at our station, had to get all station employees into the tornado shelter, all while staying on the air. Other weather events still fresh in my mind are this year's El Reno tornado and the snowstorm last month.

During severe weather events, I often rode my motorcycle to work. I would keep my car at home in the garage to protect it from hail. As long as it was not raining on the way to work, I would be on my bike. I did not care about getting wet on the way home, and if the storms hit the metro hard enough, I would get the pine smell of downed trees on the way home, something I would have missed if in my car. This was also an early warning to other employees coming into work. If they saw my bike in the parking lot, they knew bad weather was on the way.

While I will miss Oklahoma during tornado season (not because I like the destruction, but I enjoy the challenge of forecasting the worst of what Mother Nature sends our way), I will most miss the friends my family has made during the past six years. I have moved frequently in my life, and have had to say goodbye many times, but it really pains me to watch my girls with their little friends and know that they will not grow up together. Oklahoma is a great place to raise a family. I grew up in a small town that was a community, and have not experienced that until moving to Oklahoma.... even though I am in the big city here, it still feels like that small town community. I really hope I can find people as nice as Oklahomans in my new home.

Tomorrow is my last day. I turn in my station key, employee handbook and KOCO jacket in the morning, do the noon show, and then say goodbye for now. We are moving to South Carolina, where I will be the evening meteorologist at the CBS station in Myrtle Beach. I am looking forward to the challenge of tropical storms, and about double the average rainfall of Oklahoma City. The new location will make it possible for The Johnsons to hop into the car to visit family in either Massachusetts or Florida. From Oklahoma, both these locations are a two day drive, or an expensive plane trip. I look forward to seeing my nieces and nephews grow up, and I am excited that my girls will see their grandparents more often.

We will miss Oklahoma, but am sure we will be back to visit.

Frank