Tornadoes spotted in Oklahoma as hail pelts Kansas

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Tornadoes touched down Monday evening in rural Oklahoma and large hail pelted parts of Kansas as an outbreak of dangerous storms brought the possibility of strong twisters staying on the ground for many miles.

Forecasters have issued a rare high-risk weather warning for the two states.

“You can’t rely on waiting to see tornadoes before sheltering tonight,” the National Weather Service said.

At least four tornadoes had been spotted in north central Oklahoma, including one about a 45-minute drive north of Tulsa. The National Weather Service office there issued a tornado emergency alert Monday night for the nearby towns of Bartlesville, Dewey and Barnsdall.

The Weather Service warned “a large and life-threatening tornado” was headed toward those towns, with wind gusts up to 70 mph.

Other tornadoes had been spotted earlier in the evening near the 1,000-person town of Okeene, while another storm in Covington had “produced tornadoes off and on for over an hour.”

The greatest risk of damaging weather includes areas in Oklahoma, such as Sulphur and Holdenville, still recovering from a tornado that killed four and left thousands without power late last month. Both the Plains and Midwest have been hammered by tornadoes this spring.

A dispatcher for Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, said there was a report of tornado damage to a single home, but it wasn’t immediately known if anyone was in the home or if anyone was hurt. Throughout the area, wind farm turbines spun rapidly in the wind and blinding rain.

Meanwhile, apple-sized hail of 3 inches (7.62 centimeters) in diameter was reported near Ellinwood, Kansas, a town of about 2,000 residents 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Wichita.

The Weather Service said that more than 3.4 million people, 1,614 schools and 159 hospitals in Oklahoma, portions of southern Kansas and far north Texas, face the most severe threat for tornadoes.

Schools and colleges across the state, including the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City Public Schools and several metro-area school districts, shut down early and canceled late afternoon and evening classes and activities.

Oklahoma’s State Emergency Operations Center,