海角大神

Five tornadoes touched down on Wednesday in the聽聽area accompanied by icy hail, forcing the city's airport to divert dozens of flights although no damage was immediately reported, officials said.

-area residents rushed for cover as three twisters hit the eastern suburb of Aurora within a half-hour period, while two more touched down in nearby areas, said meteorologist Jim Kalina of the聽.

A tornado watch for聽聽was scheduled to remain in effect until 8 p.m. local time, the Weather Service said. But Kalina was not expecting any more tornadoes.

"'s kind of in the clear right now unless something else develops," he said.

聽is not considered to be part of the so-called tornado alley, the region stretching from聽听迟辞听聽that accounts for roughly a fourth of all U.S. tornadoes, but the metropolitan area gets several twisters a year.

The second half of May to early June, when winds often cross each other in the region, is the peak time for tornadoes in the聽聽area, said Weather Service meteorologist聽.

Officials at聽聽diverted 40 flights as a result of the tornado threat, said airport spokesman聽.

The airport's Twitter page showed a photo of dozens of construction workers taking shelter in a garage at the facility, and Montgomery said airlines were assessing potential storm damage to their planes.

Reporting by Keith Coffman in聽, Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis