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TORNADOES
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Tornadoes, Severe Storms Hit Oklahoma

No Injuries Reported In Burst Of Severe Weather

POSTED: 8:47 pm EDT May 1, 2008
UPDATED: 1:02 am EDT May 2, 2008

A storm system that moved through Oklahoma Thursday night produced severe thunderstorms and at least two tornadoes.

An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper spotted a funnel cloud that eventually touched down southwest of Glencoe, Okla., Trooper Betsy Randolph said. There were no reports of damage or injuries, reported KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City.

Northeast of that area, television footage showed a large, cone-shaped tornado touch down near Pawnee, Okla., about 55 miles northwest of Tulsa. A tornado estimated at 100 yards wide was reported near Ralston, Okla., but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage, authorities said.

Severe weather in Oklahoma got going just after 6:15 p.m. CDT with a storm west of Norman. Within 10 minutes, that storm that was severe, and that's when two other supercell thunderstorms developed.

Spotters reported a possible tornado near Rose State College in Midwest City, Okla., at about 7:15 p.m. CDT, but no tornadoes were confirmed in that area. Most of the damage in that area was caused by hail, according to Jerry Lojka with the Midwest City Fire Department.

Busted windshields were reported at Tinker Air Force Base, and some people reported injuries due to being hit by hail. Hail the size of golf balls also broke windshields at a car dealership.

A KOCO-TV photojournalist later spotted a funnel developing about five miles east of Stillwater. However, there is no confirmation that this produced a tornado on the ground. Numerous tree branches fell on cars near the campus of Oklahoma State University.

In the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, it wasn't immediately clear if a tornado or straight-line winds ripped the roof off a building and deposited it in a field nearby in Choctaw, east of Oklahoma City. Storm trackers also reported seeing sheet metal wrapped around a telephone pole in the same area.

Oklahoma County Emergency Management Director David Barnes said there was confirmed wind damage, but no confirmation of twisters. Storm trackers reported seeing a brief tornado in the area and debris flying through the air.

"The jury is still kind of out on what happened there," said Kevin Brown, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Norman. "If it was a tornado, it was very weak and very brief." Brown said early damage reports from the Oklahoma County storm included some downed power poles and damage to outbuildings.

"We were very fortunate," he said. "Thankfully the storm that appeared to be the strongest appeared to be in mainly rural areas ... and not in the populated areas."

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