Locals watch as storms blow over

Being number one is usually a good thing, unless you’re talking about the most tornado-prone city and state.
The state of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City topped both lists for the month of May.
As part of ongoing research into tornado-prone areas, rankings for the most tornado-prone states and cities has been released, based on data from the National Weather Service from 1950 to 2006.
In the state category, Kansas took the No. 2 slot, followed by Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Arkansas.
The results looked at the number of tornadoes within states for the 57 years studied.
For the most tornado-prone cities, coming in at No. 2 was Huntsville, Ala., followed by Lincoln, Neb., Topeka, Kan., Wichita, Kan. and Overland Park, Kan.
As if to prove the study, heavy thunderstorms packing powerful winds, hail and torrential rain may have spawned a possible tornado Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
In Pottawatomie County, storm spotters and volunteers kept a close eye on the storm. Spotters reported seeing storm clouds lowering in the area of SH 102 and Bethel Road, but no touch downs were reported. The biggest problem locally was heavy rains, according to scanner reports, which caused some brief, but localized flooding on some area roadways.
No major reports of damage were apparent Wednesday night, although several inches of rainfall from the day was expected to cause the Little River to hit flood stage sometime this morning.
Witnesses told police in Bethany, a small suburb in northwest Oklahoma City, that a tornado touched down briefly and toppled several trees before lifting back into the sky, said Ali Razavi, a spokesman for the Bethany Police Department.
A motorist also reported spotting a small tornado that touched down briefly near the Kilpatrick Turnpike and damaged several trees before lifting back up, said Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Betsy Randolph.
Randolph said there had been reports of trees damaged from high winds but otherwise the storm’s main impact seemed to be on rush hour traffic.
High winds also blew over a tractor-trailer along Interstate 35 south of Goldsby, the OHP reported.
The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for Oklahoma, Lincoln, Pottawatomie and Seminole counties after radar indicated storms capable of producing a tornado, and sirens sounded across northwest Oklahoma City and Edmond. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Oklahoma Gas & Electric, the state’s largest utility, reported more than 11,100 customers without power early Wednesday evening, more than 10,000 of those in the Oklahoma City area.
A strong upper level system, centered over southwest Oklahoma early Wednesday evening, was plodding northeast across the state, generating showers and thunderstorms along the way, said Erin Maxwell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norman.
The weather service issued a flood warning for five northeast Oklahoma counties that received between 1 and 3 inches of rain by Wednesday evening. Separate flood warnings also were issued Wednesday for the Verdigris River near Lenapah and Spring River near Quapaw as those rivers moved toward flood stage.
“Some locations are getting locally heavy rainfall that can cause some flooding, especially in low lying or poorly drained areas that get heavy rain,” Maxwell said. “It’s a possibility across a good part of the state.”
A tornado watch also was in effect Wednesday for much of south-central and southwestern Oklahoma.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.