The 1967 pop hit by The Association may be too obscure a reference for anyone under the age of 50 to recognize, but anyone who lives in Kingfisher County can identify with the refrain:

“Everyone knows it’s Windy.”

Although Weather Observer Steve Loftis said official measurements showed a top wind speed of 56 miles per hour Wednesday, effects around the area suggest gusts may have been stronger.

Cimarron Electric Cooperative General manager reported five poles blown down or broken and 1,749 homes without power at the peak of outages Wednesday.

“The main area affected was around Cash-ion where a large dead tree 15 feet outside the right-of-way fell onto our main feeder line, interrupting power to nearly 1,200 members for an hour and a half,” he said. “Isolated outages persisted throughout the afternoon until the last meter was restored just after 10 p.m.

“We were very pleased with how well our system held up.

“The investments we’ve made strengthening our grid over the past six years continue to prove their worth.”

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Reitz of Kingfisher reported that high winds caused a driver to lose control of a semi tractor trailer carrying a load of sand Wednesday on the Loyal-Hitchcock blacktop 3.5 miles east of Hitchcock.

Donald Pennington, 58, of Wynnewood, was not reported injured when the 2005 Peterbilt departed the roadway to the north, struck an embankment and rolled onto the passenger side, Reitz said.

The Church of the Nazarene in Kingfisher lost a portion of its metal roof Wednesday and wind damage in other locations also was reported.

Rains of one inch or more fell across Kingfisher County last week.

While fields were already wet from an abundance of late fall and winter moisture, the additional rain might come in handy as grain fields are approaching the end of winter dormancy and crops prepare for the rush to maturity and harvest. Wednesday, March 20, is the first day of spring.

Kingfisher Weather Observer Steve Loftis reported a total of 1.2 inches at the National Weather Service Station in Kingfisher with .88 inch recorded at 7 a.m. Wednesday and .32 inch recorded at 7 a.m. Thursday.

That moisture brought March’s rainfall total to 1.36 inches and the year-to-date total to 3.64 inches.

Other rainfall amounts reported across the county included:

Cashion – 1.5 inches reported by customers of Cashion Grain and Feed.

Dover – 1.1 inches at the Rick and Robin Johnston residence northwest of Dover.

Loyal – one inch at the Jon Cochran Sr. residence.

Okarche – one inch was recorded at CHS Elevator but Rick Brueggen said that reports varied widely because “so much of it fell sideways” (due to high winds). Kristi Washington reported 1.5 inches at Okarche Grain and Feed west of Okarche.

Rainfall amounts recorded at selected Mesonet sites included:

1.13 inches west of Kingfisher, 1.08 at Watonga, El Reno 1.09, Guthrie 1.20, Marshal 1.57, Seiling 2.48, Cheyenne 1.42, Elk City 1.01, Minco 1.23, Oklahoma City East 1.01, Lake Carl Blackwell 1.12, Fairview 1.39, Woodward .95, Walters 1.41, Hollis .68 and Tipton .53.