Large Tornado Outbreak In Oklahoma, Kansas
UPDATE: The Associated Press now reports that 5 have been killed and dozens injured. For more information check out our recap of the event.
The total tornado tally was 37, though certainly some of those were from the same twister. The NWS in Norman reckons that there were about 10 tornadoes in the state and NWS-Wichita is looking at two major twisters. As usual, Reed Timmer got very close to the tornadoes.
ORIGINAL REPORT MONDAY 8 PM:
A massive tornado outbreak is underway in the heart of the nation tonight, with over two dozen tornadoes reported as of 7 PM Central Time, mostly in Kansas and Oklahoma. For more information on the forecast and updates later tonight, read the tornado story on AccuWeather.com. TV stations KOCO and KFOR are showing damage video from the Oklahoma City area. Here are a few images from this evening...
The first is a radar image which shows a hook echo and debris cloud (where the tornado has lifted debris into the air and the radar is picking it up) just after the storm passed through Wakita, Oklahoma (impressive video of multiple vortices circulating around the tornado by BNVN Weather Paparazzi Scott Weberpal | more stills & video) -- ironically home of the "Twister (the movie) Museum".
There were hook echoes up in Kansas southwest of Wichita as well. Next is an image showing the tornado reports. Hail to baseball size has also been reported -- KOCO has lots of pictures. Even after the storms moved east of Oklahoma City the number of tornado warnings was staggering:
Looking at the 2-hour lightning strike map at 6:30 Central Time, you'd think the storms were targeting the metro areas of Wichita and Oklahoma City at rush hour! The situation really couldn't have been much worse and every passing minute brings more and more horrifying damage pictures.
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