Kansas and tornadoes go together like Glinda and the Munchkins, but the state's residents experienced a particularly odd weather phenomenon Sunday when they saw a twister and snow on the same day.

The Associated Press reported a tornado briefly touched down about five miles northeast of Harper, and snow began falling in far northwest Kansas later Sunday evening. The National Weather Service had issued tornado warnings in three south-central Kansas. No one was injured, and no damage was reported.

Most of the state, meanwhile, mostly experienced snow and mist.

The variety was the result of recent warm and moist conditions meeting up with a strong upper-level system, meteorologist Chris Jakub, who works for the Wichita office of the National Weather Service, told the Wichita Eagle.

"[The weather] definitely is very unusual," he said. "It interacted with mass-produced showers and a few tornado touchdowns."

The tornado warnings in Harper, Kingman and Reno counties were issued shortly after 5:30 p.m. and expired soon after that. Ten minutes before, a "rare December tornado" had already touched down five miles northeast of Harper, Wichita ABC affiliate KAKE noted.

Kansans who saw the twister were surprised it happened this late in the year.

"You could definitely tell it was still spinning," resident Kevin Kunz told KAKE. "(But) you didn't see any debris being thrown up in the air, which is usually common."

Sheila Drouhard said she was driving home when she saw the tornado only a mile away.

"It was just like a wet dirt-devil, but you knew it was heavy because you knew it was moist out," she said. "It was raining, rain drops were hitting the windshield. It was scary."

Though they are rare, December tornadoes do happen in Kansas based on records that go back 58 years. During that time, six twisters have occurred in the final month of the year. The last reported December tornado was seen 12 years ago in southeast Kansas.

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