Tornadoes touch down in Oklahoma, Nebraska on active day

CEMENT, Okla. (AP) — Tornadoes touched down in southwest Oklahoma and southern Nebraska today, a day forecasters had said could see active weather.

National Weather Service meteorologist Angela Pfannkuch said the rural town of Roseland, Nebraska, was hit at 4:22 p.m. No injuries had been reported to emergency management personnel by 5 p.m., officials said, and it wasn't yet known whether homes and buildings were damaged.

And in southwestern Oklahoma, a weak tornado touched down after 3 p.m., according to weather service meteorologist Michael Scotten.

"We've had at least one confirmed tornado, for sure," he said, adding no one was hurt or injured. "It's mainly hit open areas out there." The Chickasha school district, which was in the path of the tornado, kept its students after school as a precaution, he said.

It's too early to tell how many storms could flare up or in which region, according to Richard Thompson at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, noting that the storms will likely be widely spaced apart.

"It's possible the hail at the very biggest could be tennis ball- or baseball-sized but that would be very isolated," Thompson said.

A swath of the Great Plains is under a tornado watch until 9 p.m. tonight, including parts of North Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. Scotten also said the threat of weak tornadoes and hail was possible into tonight.