Tulsa World: Storm's gusts do damage

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Storm's gusts do damage
Friday's storm was brief but ferocious.

A tree-removal crew is on the spot an hour after a tree fell on a house at 28 E. 52nd St. A damaging thunderstorm rolled through Oklahoma early Friday. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World

By Staff and Wire Reports
Published: 6/13/2009 2:26 AM
Last Modified: 6/13/2009 3:43 AM

Stay updated on the storms with complete coverage from the Weather Channel.

Weekend weather should remain calm after baseball-size hail, heavy rain and whipping winds pounded portions of the state Friday, taking out car windows and knocking down trees and power lines.

The National Weather Service is predicting a 20 percent to 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms through Sunday with winds up to 28 mph.

Friday's storm blasted through with winds of 85 mph in Claremore, 70 mph in LeFlore County and 50 mph in Stillwater.

Pocola officials reported that 60-70 mph winds and hail downed power lines and trees, while homes in nearby Arkoma were damaged, said Oklahoma Emergency Management spokeswoman Michelann Ooten.

The north section of Arkoma went without power after the storm, the roof to a home was damaged, and signs and trees were toppled to the ground, according to Arkoma dispatcher Tracey Darden.

Southern Delaware County reported numerous downed trees from the storm, and Tahlequah reported hail.

Most of the Tulsa metro area received 1 to 1 1/2 inches of rain, National Weather Service meteorologist Karen Trammell in Tulsa said.

The storm prompted seven calls to city officials for problems with road debris, fallen branches and street flooding, said Darren Stefanek, city of Tulsa street maintenance manager.

By the time crews responded to the street flooding, the water had gone down, Stefanek said.

In Stillwater, hailstones the size of baseballs punched holes in roofs and knocked out car windows, according to Rob Hill, an emergency management technician in Stillwater.

"We're still getting preliminary reports, but we've heard about roofs damaged in parts of town and car windows, so there is some structural damage," Hill said.

Stan Ketterer, a journalism professor at Oklahoma State University, said he was mowing his lawn Friday morning in Stillwater when the "sky started turning green."

"It just started hailing and hailing," Ketterer said.

"It's huge hail. It's the biggest hail that I've ever seen, and I've been here 10 years."

At OSU, hail broke a few windows and heavy winds knocked down a small number of tree limbs, spokeswoman Carrie Hulsey-Green said.

"We had very, very minor damage," she said.

In all, 34 buildings sustained some damage, including roofs and research greenhouses, and several car windshields were broken, authorities said.

Damage assessment on campus was ongoing, Adrian Self, director of operations and maintenance at the OSU Physical Plant, said in an e-mail. By Staff and Wire Reports

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "Severe storms hit Tulsa area," which was published on 6/12/2009.

	Report Comment Bodean, Tulsa (6/12/2009 10:26:51 AM) I saw cellphone photos of baseball-sized hail in Stillwater. It doesn't look that bad here in Tulsa at the moment.
	Report Comment jimf, Tulsa (6/12/2009 10:48:03 AM) Get your lawnmowers ready to go. After this shower with sun to follow the grass is going to go crazy.
	Report Comment the original Ace, Tulsa (6/12/2009 11:02:57 AM) Perfect timing: my lawn care company just came out and applied weed control and fertilizer yesterday!
	Report Comment somewear, Yale (6/12/2009 11:04:44 AM) well, I made it through the storm o.k. I definitely need to get my lawnmowers ready!!!! We got 2" of rain and some small hail.
	Report Comment Cooldaddy, Broken Arrow (6/12/2009 11:05:27 AM) I work in the City Hall building where it's practically all glass. Wow, daylight turned to darkness with those passing clouds. Black clouds! It looked scary out there.
	Report Comment Mommabear of 2, Jenks (6/12/2009 11:08:48 AM) Oh, hail! So far, so good...phew! I just cringe when I hear the word hail, or see the sky turn that ugly green-black. My poor Charger took a pummeling last year (in April), so I went out this morning and moved it just a little further under the car port. :o)
	Report Comment Bullhead, Nicut (6/12/2009 11:17:26 AM) It is pitch black in Tahlequah. I'm heading back home east!!
	Report Comment redbeard, Stillwater (6/12/2009 11:18:20 AM) We had golfball size hail here and some windows broken. Get your car under cover if you can.
	Report Comment Bullhead, Nicut (6/12/2009 11:24:39 AM) DANG! I missed the tick crystals. Yesterday would have been perfect.
	Report Comment Dad, Up North (6/12/2009 11:25:01 AM) I can hear my tomatoes growing.......
	Report Comment Lance-a-lot, Tulsa (6/12/2009 11:27:08 AM) My umbrella did me NO good downtown today. I was a sad site.
	Report Comment GoldenDriller1, Out of State (6/12/2009 11:36:22 AM) This City is under "HURRICANE ALERT!"
	Report Comment owen, Tulsa (6/12/2009 11:48:23 AM) My lawn company applied weed control at 9:00 this morning according to the note left on the door. I wish they had listened to the weather report first.
	Report Comment jhill, Tulsa (6/12/2009 11:51:34 AM) Owen, They did listen to the weather report first -- and they decided to hurry up and finish your yard before the rain started!!!
	Report Comment SS_Hippy, Tulsa (6/12/2009 12:22:05 PM) It was a gulley-washer out there for awhile!
	Report Comment Check It out, Tulsa (6/12/2009 12:28:38 PM) I am glad we went to Stilwater yesterday instead of today! We drove up to buy tie dye clothes. This is a very cool picture TW.
	Report Comment somewear, Yale (6/12/2009 1:16:07 PM) Check It out, Tulsa doesn't have any tie dye clothes????
	Report Comment Check It out, Tulsa (6/12/2009 1:24:35 PM) Actually we met these folks at a festival here and they had the best tie dye I have ever seen so we drove up there and met them at their house to buy some. They had a peace sign in front of their house made out of bricks. My daughters loved it! We got a cool road trip and made some new friends and got fun clothes too. The artist even made a special order for me because I prefer earth tones over pschedelic and I like my shirts tunic style. It was a fun adventure and I am glad we beat the storm.
	Report Comment justpete, (6/12/2009 1:41:15 PM) "Severe storms hit Tulsa area" well there's a shocker...must be a slow news day.
	Report Comment shaw411, Scottsdale, AZ (6/12/2009 1:49:52 PM) We need some rain here in the desert.
	Report Comment junkman, Tulsa (6/12/2009 2:18:06 PM) Pretty scarey...I saw a huge tree down on a house at 52nd and Riverside....huge tree...
	Report Comment Ayo, T-Town (6/12/2009 2:24:37 PM) Ahh shaw411...it's hard to think of rain when looking at your avie. Do you get a 'monsoon' season where you are? My Pueblo friends in NM call the rainy season monsoons. Seems like they come in the fall, but I can't remember.
	Report Comment Graychin, Eucha (6/12/2009 2:45:30 PM) Two inches of rain at Grand Lake. But nothing severe, like wind or hail.
	Report Comment TheDudeAbides, Midtown Tulsa (6/12/2009 2:46:55 PM) That's a really cool picture of downtown!
	Report Comment Alix Smart, (6/12/2009 2:52:27 PM) And this is Taylor's fault how??

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