Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 252, NWS Norman, OK

May 14, 1986Cotton County, Tillman County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 14, 1986, 8:50 PM CDT for Cotton County, Tillman County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 55 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 14, 1986, 8:50 PM CDT (01:50 UTC)
Expired
May 14, 1986, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Norman, OK
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cotton County, OK, Tillman County, OK

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 14, 9:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Cotton, OK
May 14, 9:25 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Cotton, OK

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Ok Cty/Will Rgrs, OK (KOKC), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 153 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Ok Cty/Will Rgrs, OK at 00:00Z on 1986-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Ok Cty/Will Rgrs, OK at 00:00Z on 1986-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -9 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
779 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
140 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAAOO KOKC 150150
SVROKC
OKC033-141-150245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
850 PM CDT WED MAY 14 1986
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:
 
IN SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA
          ..NORTHERN COTTON..TILLMAN

AT 852 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR TIPTON MOVING
TOWARD THE EAST AT 35 TO 40 MPH. THE CITIES OF TIPTON..MANITOU..
FREDERICK..AND CHATANOGA ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS LARGE STORM.
 
THIS STORM IS PASSING OVER THE SAME AREA AS THE PREVIOUS STORM AvND
SOME FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 14, 3:00 PM CDT, 5 hours 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA FALLS TX
3PM CDT WED MAY 14 1986

...TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND
PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA FROM 215PM CDT UNTIL 9PM CDT TONIGHT...
SOME OF THE COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREA ARE ARCHER..BAYLOR..
CLAY..FOARD..HARDEMAN..JACK..KNOX..MONTAGUE..WICHITA..WILBARGER..AND
YOUNG IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND COTTON COUNTY OF SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA.

AT 255PM CDT A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS IN NORTHERN KENT AND
SOUTHERN DICKENS COUNTY NEAR GIRARD. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA FROM NORTH OF
ELDORADO TO WEST AND EAST OF HOLBART. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL INCREASE OVER NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

REMEMBER... A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
Special weather statement, May 14, 3:34 PM CDT, 5 hours 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA FALLS TX
330PM CDT WED MAY 14 1986

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR WICHITA AND THE SURROUDING COUNTIES
UNTIL 9PM...

AT 325 PM CDT A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 8 MILES SOUTH OF
GUTHRIE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. AT THIS CURRENT MOVEMENT...
THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN PORTIONS OF KNOX COUNTY NEAR
TRUSCOTT DURING THE NEXT HALF HOUR.

THIS IS A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS THUNDERSTORM AND RESIDENTS IN KNOX
COUNTY SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Norman, OK issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 7:00 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNGarvin30 min
May 14, 7:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGreer, Harmon, Jackson65 min
May 14, 7:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGarvin, Murray, Pontotoc57 min
May 14, 7:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCarter57 min
May 14, 7:31 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNJohnston, Murray, Pontotoc39 min
May 14, 7:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCaddo, Comanche, Jackson, Kiowa65 min
May 14, 7:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNHarmon65 min
May 14, 8:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNTillman53 min
May 14, 8:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCoal, Johnston59 min
May 14, 8:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNComanche59 min
May 14, 9:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNComanche, Grady65 min
May 14, 9:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCotton65 min
May 14, 9:29 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNJefferson31 min
May 14, 9:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCotton55 min
May 14, 9:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNStephens47 min
May 14, 9:50 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningOUNLincoln, Logan2 hr
May 14, 10:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNJefferson29 min
May 14, 10:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNLove47 min
May 14, 10:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNJohnston47 min
May 14, 11:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBryan, Johnston, Marshall61 min
May 14, 11:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNAtoka42 min
May 14, 11:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNLove42 min
May 14, 11:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNAtoka, Bryan60 min
May 15, 12:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNChoctaw41 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Oklahoma, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.