Oklahoma  is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America.  Its residents are known as Oklahomans, and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City. It is the only state that shares its name with its capital city.

   A major producer of natural gas, oil and agriculture, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology.It has one of the fastest growing economies in the nation, ranking among the top states in per capita income growth and gross domestic product growth. Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's primary economic anchors, with nearly 60 percent of Oklahomans living in their metropolitan statistical areas. The state holds a mixed record in education and healthcare, and its largest universities participate in the NCAA and NAIA athletic associations, with two collegiate athletic departments rated among the most successful in American history.

   With small mountain ranges, prairie, and eastern forests, most of Oklahoma lies in the Great Plains and the U.S. Interior Highlands—a region especially prone to severe weather.           
     Climate
   Oklahoma is located in a temperate region and experiences occasional extremes of temperature and precipitation typical in a continental climate. Most of the state lies in an area known as Tornado Alley characterized by frequent interaction between cold and warm air masses producing severe weather. An average 54 tornadoes strike the state per year—one of the highest rates in the world. Because of its position between zones of differing prevailing temperature and winds, weather patterns within the state can vary widely between relatively short distances.
Oklahoma's climate is prime for thunderstorm development.

   The humid subtropical climate  of the eastern part of Oklahoma influenced heavily by southerly winds bringing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, but transitions progressively to a semi-arid zone  in the high plains of the Panhandle and other western areas from about Lawton westward less frequently touched by southern moisture. Precipitation and temperatures fall from east to west accordingly, with areas in the southeast averaging an annual temperature of 62 °F and an annual rainfall of 56 inches,  while areas of the panhandle average 58 °F, with an annual rainfall under 17 inches.  All of the state frequently experiences temperatures above 100 °F or below 0 °F,and snowfall ranges from an average of less than 4 inches in the south to just over 20 incheson the border of Colorado in the panhandle. The state is home to the National Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service located at Norman.