National Weather Center

The National Weather Center in Norman on May 1, 2022. 

 Megan O'Donnell/OU Daily

Update: This story was updated at 1:30 p.m. to include changes to OU's final exam schedule. This story was previously updated at 12:30 p.m. and 12:50 p.m. to include that Norman Public Schools and OU's Norman campus will close and cancel late afternoon and evening activities. 

This story will continue to be updated with more information as it becomes available. 

More severe weather is possible in Norman on Monday including long-track tornadoes and up to softball-sized hail, according to the National Weather Service. 

The National Weather Service expects storms to arrive in central Oklahoma at 5 p.m. and last until midnight. The potential earliest start time for severe weather in Norman could be 3 p.m.

The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center upgraded central Oklahoma, including Norman, to be high-risk. 

On April 27, an EF1 tornado hit Norman, causing damage near the Max Westheimer Airport in the University North Park area. 

All evening activities, including athletic games and practices, for Norman Public Schools on Monday have been canceled, NPS announced at 12:16 p.m. Monday. The Norman Public Schools Board of Education meeting scheduled for Monday night has also been canceled.  

OU announced Norman campus will be closing at 3:30 p.m. Classroom Management told OU Daily the four exams scheduled today at 4:30 p.m. to 6:30pm have been rescheduled to Tuesday, May 7, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Five exams tonight that were originally scheduled from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. were also rescheduled to tomorrow, May 7, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

"Rescheduling an exam was considered beneficial than an exam interruption," Mark Morvant, senior vice provost for student success, wrote to OU Daily in an email Monday afternoon.

The Norman Police Department has an emergency notification system for residents, which will be utilized to send severe weather updates. Sign up for alerts here. 

In the event of a tornado, OU will use the OU RAVE alerts system. Sign up for OU RAVE here. 

Shelters for students living on campus are located in all residential halls and on-campus apartments including Couch, Walker, Kraettli, Traditions East, Traditions West and Cross Village. Students in the David L. Boren and Headington halls are asked to use the stairwells while those in Headington and Dunham colleges can utilize the basements.

These locations will become available once a tornado watch is activated. For a full list of OU-related protocols and procedures, refer here. 

There are no public storm shelters in Norman. 

According to tornado safety guidelines by the National Weather Service, the safest place to be is an underground shelter, an above-ground safe and a basement. If in a home or study building, go to the lowest level, be completely surrounded on all sides by walls and use pillows or cushions to block flying debris. Vehicles, mobile homes and outdoors are the most dangerous locations to be.

This story was edited by Karoline Leonard and Anusha Fathepure.

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