Tornado warnings expected through early Saturday evening

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A tornado touched down in rural northwest Oklahoma at 12:45 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service reported. <br><br>The weather service and counties affected by accompanying

Saturday, March 27th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A tornado touched down in rural northwest Oklahoma at 12:45 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service reported.

The weather service and counties affected by accompanying thunderstorms had no reports of damage by mid-afternoon.

The tornado hit 12 miles southeast of Arnett, which is about 35 miles southwest of Woodward.

The weather service also received but had not confirmed reports of a tornado touching down in Vici, about 21 miles south of Woodward, and a tornado briefly touching down near Sayre, in far western Oklahoma, said meteorologist Kevin Brown.

About 2:15 p.m., two main storms _ one near Woodward and another near Sayre _ were producing severe thunderstorms and had the potential to produce tornadoes, Brown said.

The weather service had received no reports of damage as of mid-afternoon Saturday.

``Right now, they (tornadoes) are hitting just outside of the towns,'' Brown said. ``The storms have been hitting in open country so far.''

Brown expected tornado warnings to continue in northern and western Oklahoma through early Saturday evening. He expected heavy thunderstorms with strong winds and hail to continue through the night but forecast a calm Sunday.

Dispatcher Jami Fox with the Woodward County Sheriff's Department said the department had deputies in the areas of the storm, watching to see if they needed to sound warnings.

``Tornadoes are pretty common in this part of the country,'' Fox said. ``This is storm season, so there's more chances of it now than other parts of the year.''

Many Woodward County residents have storm shelters, largely because of a state grant that funded them, Fox said.

Misty Kuranoff, a dispatcher with the Beckham County Sheriff's Department in Sayre, said the town got about 20 minutes of rain and nickel-sized hail.

``It's not bad out here,'' she said about 3 p.m. ``It's still pretty cloudy.''

The Custer County Sheriff's Department reported wind but no rain in the county seat of Arapaho. The county, northeast of Sayre in Beckham County, was under a tornado watch until 3:30 p.m.

The weather service cautioned residents to take cover in basements, storm shelters or interior rooms or hallways on the lowest floor. They were warned to leave mobile homes and vehicles, and stay away from windows and outside walls.

Custer, Beckham, Washita and Greer counties in western Oklahoma had severe thunderstorm warnings Saturday afternoon, including warnings of quarter- to tennis ball-sized hail and 60 to 70 mph winds.

Northwestern Major, southern Woods and far eastern Woodward counties in northwest Oklahoma had tornado warnings through 3:15 p.m. Saturday.

``If you do get hit by a storm, they're probably going to be pretty rough,'' Brown said.