Saturday, April 4, 2026 • Rain ends overnight. Cool, mid-60s. ⛅
Editor’s Note: If you’re on Yahoo! or GMAIL, please make sure Oklahoma Memo is hitting your inbox (and not your spam folder!) so that you don’t miss your daily local news recap.
Photo by Raychel Sanner on Unsplash
TOP STORY:
Severe storms slam Oklahoma City metro, tornadoes reported, thousands without power
Compiled by Oklahoma Memo
Sources: KOCO, News 9, News On 6
Photo by Raychel Sanner on Unsplash
Severe storms swept across Oklahoma Friday night, triggering tornado warnings across the Oklahoma City metro and leaving damage, power outages, and dangerous conditions in their wake.
At least five tornadoes may have touched down, according to News 9 meteorologists, with damage reported in parts of southwest OKC and near Prague, where debris was caught on camera. Winds approached 90 mph, with large hail and flash flooding also reported.
More than 5,000 Oklahomans lost power at the peak of the storms, and Will Rogers World Airport briefly lost electricity, forcing operations onto backup generators. Interstate 240 was shut down in parts of the metro, and emergency crews responded to water rescues and downed power lines.
The severe threat extended statewide. Tornado warnings and flash flood alerts stretched across central Oklahoma, while northeastern Oklahoma — including the Tulsa metro — remained under a severe thunderstorm watch overnight, with additional storms capable of producing damaging winds up to 70 mph, hail, and possible tornadoes.
Forecasters warn it could take days to determine how many tornadoes touched down as storms continue moving east.
The Oklahoma Rundown 📰
Editor’s note: Links requiring subscriptions have an *.
A hand-curated list of the best journalism from across the state:
• Statewide, federal races: 15 file for governor, Oklahoma auditor wins by default (NonDoc)
• Oklahoma Auditor Cindy Byrd shifts campaign to challenge state treasurer (The Oklahoman)*
• Federal jury awards $126 million to family of teen killed in crash with former Moore police officer (KFOR)
• Is converting the newest trend? Tulsa’s Catholic Diocese sees a rise in new converts ahead of Easter weekend. (Tulsa Flyer)
• Weather forces cancellation of Zach Bryan concert Friday at University of Tulsa (Tulsa World)*
• Storm destroys Wakita family farm 30 years after 'Twister' filmed (2 News Oklahoma)
• OCPD officials place employees on leave after graphic hoax dispatch transmission (KOCO)
• Oklahoma City pursuit ends in fiery crash at Moore car dealership (KOCO)
• Oklahoma agency chief to step down April 24 (Oklahoma Voice)
• Once divided, Sand Springs residents band together to demand recall of elected officials (Tulsa Flyer)
• Hundreds of candidates file for Oklahoma office, setting up contested races for House and Senate (Oklahoma Voice)
• Budget deal includes $3M for new Oklahoma state plane (Oklahoma Voice)
• Oklahoma investors may pursue class action lawsuit against Elon Musk (The Oklahoman)*
• 5 ways to spend your weekend in Tulsa April 3-5 (Tulsa Flyer)
• Mick Wilson leaving as TPS athletic director for Rejoice Christian position (Tulsa World)*
Oklahoma Memo Podcast
Trump’s primetime speech offers few new details on Iran conflict
3 Takeaways
The speech repeated existing messaging and introduced no major new policy moves
Several reported options — including military escalation and NATO shifts — were not addressed
The address may have been aimed more at calming markets than informing the public
President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated primetime address this week delivered little new information on the ongoing Iran conflict, according to journalist and podcaster Grant Hermes.
Despite days of buildup and reports pointing to possible announcements on military strategy, NATO involvement, or next steps in the region, the speech largely reiterated positions already shared by the White House and defense officials.
Hermes noted the absence of key developments — including previously reported contingency plans — left the address feeling more like a restatement than a policy update.
The speech also broke from modern presidential norms in its presentation, delivered from a White House hallway rather than traditional venues like the Oval Office or East Room — a detail Hermes said raised additional questions about messaging and intent.
Oklahoma Memo
A daily briefing connecting Oklahomans to the state’s best journalism — and original content from Oklahoma Memo. Got a news tip? Somebody I need to interview? Message me at [email protected].
Want more in-depth analysis, commentary on Oklahoma news? Join me on Substack.