OK Storms Spawn Short-Lived Tornadoes

Oct. 10 -- Strong storms in central Oklahoma Tuesday toppled power lines, damaged roofs and flipped cars. The morning storms are thought to have spawned several short-lived tornadoes in the area, according to the National Weather Service.

Preliminary reports indicated up to seven tornadoes in Oklahoma, Cleveland and Lincoln counties.

“We think it's actually a lower number, like maybe around three, because some of those reports are the same tornado trekking over the area,” said Alex Zwink, meteorologist for the weather service in Norman.

In Midwest City, a suspected tornado flipped four cars at a shopping mall, damaged the roofs of some homes and businesses and brought down power poles and tree limbs.

“Fortunately, we had no injuries," said Police Chief Brandon Clabes. "It certainly could have been a different outcome based on the time of day and the location because it's a busy location in Midwest City.”

Clabes described the damage to the cars as significant and said the damage in the area didn't look like it was caused by straight-line winds.

“There was a lot of damage, which meant those cars had to be picked up,” he said.

Clabes said there was no major damage reported in the city, but said it was possible more damage would be reported in the coming days as homeowners and business owners inspect their property.

In Oklahoma City, several homes were damaged as the storm rolled through.

Capt. David Macy, spokesman for the Oklahoma City Fire Department, said fire crews were called out to SE 149 and Anderson Road to inspect storm damage. Four houses in the area suffered damage, including one home where there was significant damage to the roof. The other homes had some roof damage and some large trees in the area were uprooted.

In southwest Oklahoma City, a trampoline was blown into a power line and a large concrete block wall was toppled after storms blew through the area before 9 a.m.

A number of power poles were knocked down or damaged in the storm, including several along NE 122 and Interstate 35, where Macy said power lines were in the roadway. At the nearby Hampton Inn, several people had to be rescued after they were stuck in a storm cellar.

Fire crews also responded to a number of wrecks with injuries, but no other storm-related injuries were reported.

On Tuesday, Gov. Mary Fallin issued a state of emergency for all 77 counties following flooding, tornado and straight-line wind damage associated with recent storms.

Under the executive order, state agencies are allowed to make emergency purchases needed to deliver resources to hard hit areas. The declaration is also the first step toward seeking federal assistance if necessary.

The storm

Zwink said based off modeling, forecasters had a good idea that a strong thunderstorm capable of producing spin up tornadoes was likely Tuesday, but the timing was off.

“What the models didn't get correct was the timing of the event. This was actually expected to happen a little bit later, right around the noon to 1 p.m. time frame,” he said.

Zwink said the tornadoes that spun up Tuesday were much different from those that form during severe weather season in the spring.

“These aren't like your usual supercells where they're long-lived and they're larger tornadoes that have more destructive winds. These are short and short-lived and weaker tornadoes,” Zwink said. “But as we saw today, they have the potential to do some damage.”

Although the odds are low for tornadoes to form in the state in October, Zwink said with the right weather conditions in play, it's always possible.

On Oct. 21, 2017, severe weather spawned nine tornadoes in the state, mainly in southwest Oklahoma, according to the weather service. From 1950 through last year, 139 tornadoes have formed in the state during the month of October.

In other parts of the state, the main concern wasn't tornadoes, but the flooding that has come with recent storms.

As of 4:50 p.m. Tuesday, parts of northwest Oklahoma had received more than 7 inches of rain in 48 hours. More than 8.1 inches of rain had fallen during that time period in Seiling, in Dewey County.

Zwink said persistent rain overnight in the area and in parts of western Oklahoma led to flash flood warnings. Southwest Oklahoma has also received heavy rainfall, leading to some road closures near Altus.

For Wednesday and Thursday, Zwink said he expects clear skies before another rain event enters the state.

Hurricane Sergio is expected to make landfall over Mexico and through Texas before entering Oklahoma over Friday and Saturday, Zwink said. Some forecasting models are already predicting up to 4 inches of rain from that storm.

“There's parts of Oklahoma that could still use rain, but we're already pretty soaked as is. It's something that we're going to be watching out for,” Zwink said.

CONTRIBUTING: Staff Writer Robert Medley

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