Friday's broad storm hit for the duration of the evening rush hour and stuck about, causing havoc on Interstate 40, a major artery connecting suburbs east and west of the city, and dropping so much rain on the region that streets were flooded to a depth of four feet.
To the south, a critical storm with winds approaching 80 mph rolled into Moore, exactly where a most desirable-of-the-scale EF5 tornado killed 24 on May two
Rick Smith, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service at Norman, stated that though the storm packed a useful punch, it wasn't as robust as the Moore tornado.
"This storm had almost everything you could cope with at 1 time: tornadoes, hail, lightning, heavy rain, individuals clogging the highways," Smith stated.
The location was fortunate for the reason that the storm touched down mostly in rural places and missed central Oklahoma City.
"It's not even close to anything just like what we had last week," Smith stated. "We had been particularly concerned this would move into downtown. It would have been a major concern. It created all the distinction that it was out in the country."
CBS News weather consultant David Bernard reported Friday evening that however, we have those tornado watches in several of the similar places we've had them from the last few nights. Most of them appropriate currently are located in Oklahoma, too into southeastern Kansas, and a fantastic chunk of southwestern and central Missouri, many critical thunderstorms ongoing correct right now -- as well a significant thunderstorm watch covering eastern Minnesota and a fantastic component of northern and central portions of Wisconsin.
Looking ahead to Saturday, Bernard continued, we have a wide location of possible critical weather extending from central and north Texas appropriate through the Missouri River valley into the Midwest, as far north as Michigan and extending as far east it looks just like as portions of Ohio.
The U.S. averages significantly more than 1,200 tornadoes a year and a great many are reasonably little. Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes to hit considering 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been hit the a large number of -- seven times each.
Heavy rain and hail hampered rescue efforts in Oklahoma City. Frequent lightning roiled the skies properly right after the mainfour threat had moved east. Highways and streets had been clogged late into the night as motorists worked their way around flooded portions of the city.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph stated troopers located the bodies of a woman and an infant near their automobile. Randolph stated it's not identified if the woman was driving into the storm as soon as it hit about 7 p.m. Friday.
Emergency officials reported that numerous injuries occurred in the location along I-40, and Randolph stated there were toppled and wrecked vehicles littering the region. Troopers requested some ambulances at I-40 near Yukon, west of Oklahoma City.
"We're scrambling about," stated Lara O'Leary, a spokeswoman for the neighborhood ambulance agency. "There is particularly low visibility with the heavy rain ... so we're having challenge becoming about.
"Our significant problem would be to obtain individuals off the highways and acquire them secure," Gov. Mary Fallin told CNN.
Standing water was a number of feet deep, and in several places it looked even more like a hurricane had passed by way of than a tornado.
In Missouri, the mixture of high water and fallen power lines closed dozen of roads, snarling site visitors on highways and side streets in the St. Louis area. At the Hollywood Casino in suburban of Maryland Heights, gamblers rushed from the floor as a storm blew out windows and tore off portion of the roof.
Rich Gordon, of Jefferson City, stated he was on the casino floor as soon as he heard a loud "boom."
"I didn't fully grasp if it was lightning or what, in spite of this it was loud," Gordon stated.
In Oklahoma, storm chasers with cameras in their vehicles transmitted video showing several funnels dropping from the supercell thunderstorm as it passed south of El Reno and into Oklahoma City basically south of downtown. Police urged motorists to leave 1-40 and seek a secure place.
"I'm in a auto operating from the tornado," stated Amy Sharp, who last week pulled her fourth-grade daughter from the Plaza Towers Elementary School as a storm approached with 20 mph winds. "I'm in Norman and it simply hit Yukon exactly where I was staying" mainly because last week's storm.
To the south, a critical storm with winds approaching 80 mph rolled into Moore, exactly where a most desirable-of-the-scale EF5 tornado killed 24 on May two
Rick Smith, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service at Norman, stated that though the storm packed a useful punch, it wasn't as robust as the Moore tornado.
"This storm had almost everything you could cope with at 1 time: tornadoes, hail, lightning, heavy rain, individuals clogging the highways," Smith stated.
The location was fortunate for the reason that the storm touched down mostly in rural places and missed central Oklahoma City.
"It's not even close to anything just like what we had last week," Smith stated. "We had been particularly concerned this would move into downtown. It would have been a major concern. It created all the distinction that it was out in the country."
CBS News weather consultant David Bernard reported Friday evening that however, we have those tornado watches in several of the similar places we've had them from the last few nights. Most of them appropriate currently are located in Oklahoma, too into southeastern Kansas, and a fantastic chunk of southwestern and central Missouri, many critical thunderstorms ongoing correct right now -- as well a significant thunderstorm watch covering eastern Minnesota and a fantastic component of northern and central portions of Wisconsin.
Looking ahead to Saturday, Bernard continued, we have a wide location of possible critical weather extending from central and north Texas appropriate through the Missouri River valley into the Midwest, as far north as Michigan and extending as far east it looks just like as portions of Ohio.
The U.S. averages significantly more than 1,200 tornadoes a year and a great many are reasonably little. Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes to hit considering 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been hit the a large number of -- seven times each.
Heavy rain and hail hampered rescue efforts in Oklahoma City. Frequent lightning roiled the skies properly right after the mainfour threat had moved east. Highways and streets had been clogged late into the night as motorists worked their way around flooded portions of the city.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph stated troopers located the bodies of a woman and an infant near their automobile. Randolph stated it's not identified if the woman was driving into the storm as soon as it hit about 7 p.m. Friday.
Emergency officials reported that numerous injuries occurred in the location along I-40, and Randolph stated there were toppled and wrecked vehicles littering the region. Troopers requested some ambulances at I-40 near Yukon, west of Oklahoma City.
"We're scrambling about," stated Lara O'Leary, a spokeswoman for the neighborhood ambulance agency. "There is particularly low visibility with the heavy rain ... so we're having challenge becoming about.
"Our significant problem would be to obtain individuals off the highways and acquire them secure," Gov. Mary Fallin told CNN.
Standing water was a number of feet deep, and in several places it looked even more like a hurricane had passed by way of than a tornado.
In Missouri, the mixture of high water and fallen power lines closed dozen of roads, snarling site visitors on highways and side streets in the St. Louis area. At the Hollywood Casino in suburban of Maryland Heights, gamblers rushed from the floor as a storm blew out windows and tore off portion of the roof.
Rich Gordon, of Jefferson City, stated he was on the casino floor as soon as he heard a loud "boom."
"I didn't fully grasp if it was lightning or what, in spite of this it was loud," Gordon stated.
In Oklahoma, storm chasers with cameras in their vehicles transmitted video showing several funnels dropping from the supercell thunderstorm as it passed south of El Reno and into Oklahoma City basically south of downtown. Police urged motorists to leave 1-40 and seek a secure place.
"I'm in a auto operating from the tornado," stated Amy Sharp, who last week pulled her fourth-grade daughter from the Plaza Towers Elementary School as a storm approached with 20 mph winds. "I'm in Norman and it simply hit Yukon exactly where I was staying" mainly because last week's storm.
