WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.

First Oklahoma City area November twisters since 1979

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Even though few areas on the planet are more tornado-prone than Oklahoma—and that includes much of the autumn season—reports of twisters there in November is hardly a frequent occurrence. That’s why the six twisters reported to have touched down Wednesday in the area surrounding Oklahoma City are unusual. Not since 1979 has Oklahoma County, the home turf of Oklahoma City, been visited by a November tornado. Trained spotters tracked one twister on the ground just north of Chandler for 7 minutes.

The weather was also wild Wednesday in another corner of the continent—southern Alaska.Wind gusts hit 83 m.p.h. south of Anchorage Wednesday while 5”+ rains prompted flooding at Seward on the Kenai Peninsula. The heavy, wind-driven rains on Kodiak Island exceeded 2” setting a record. Blizzard conditions left parts of Thompson Pass buried beneath 3-5 feet of snow.
-Tom Skilling