Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 35, NWS Norman, OK

May 17, 1986Lincoln County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1986, 12:09 AM CDT for Lincoln County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 31 min. 1 report 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 17, 1986, 12:09 AM CDT (05:09 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1986, 12:40 AM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Norman, OK
Area
Whole counties

County Lincoln 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 17, 12:09 AM CDTTornado F0Lincoln, 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, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 73 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 1986-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2930 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 1986-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 81 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
2930 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
856 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
5.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KOKC 170511
TOROKC
OKC081-107-170540-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUSTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
1209 AM CDT SAT MAY 17 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1240 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:

IN EASTERN OKLAHOMA
          ..SOUTHEASTERN LINCOLN..WESTERN OKFUSKEE.

AT 1209 PM A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PRAGUE.
RADAR INDICATES A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN THIS AREA MOVING NORTHEAST
AT 15 MPH.

PERSONS IN THE PADEN AND BOLEY AREAS SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE TORNADO
PRECAUTIONS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 16, 6:37 PM CDT, 5 hours 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA FALLS TX
635 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR FOARD...HARDEMAN...AND KNOX
COUNTIES UNTIL 11 PM CDT...

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR WICHITA AND THE SURROUNDING
COUNTIES FOR TONIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING...

AT 630 PM THE WICHITA FALLS RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
SOME PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN SCATTERED OVER CLAY AND MONTAGUE COUNTIES
TO THE EAST OF WICHITA FALLS. HEAVIEST RAINS WERE FALLING SOUTHEAST
OF WINDTHORST AND NORTHWEST OF BOWIE.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED WEST OF FOARD COUNTY NEAR
PADUCAH.

IN OKLAHOMA...A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED TO THE NORTHWEST
OF LAWTON. ALL PRECIPITATION MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 7:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNWoodward50 min
May 16, 7:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNRoger Mills60 min
May 16, 7:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNDewey33 min
May 16, 7:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNMajor, Woodward50 min
May 16, 8:16 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNBeckham, Custer, Washita29 min
May 16, 8:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNDewey44 min
May 16, 8:54 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNWashita36 min
May 16, 9:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCleveland, McClain52 min
May 16, 9:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNComanche55 min
May 16, 9:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCaddo, Canadian55 min
May 16, 9:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCleveland, Oklahoma55 min
May 16, 9:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNKingfisher55 min
May 16, 10:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNJackson, Tillman59 min
May 16, 10:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGrady42 min
May 16, 10:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNLogan, Oklahoma64 min
May 16, 10:32 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNCaddo28 min
May 16, 10:36 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNGrady34 min
May 16, 10:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCanadian, Cleveland, Oklahoma45 min
May 16, 10:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGrady, McClain45 min
May 16, 10:45 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNTillman30 min
May 16, 11:10 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNCotton, Tillman50 min
May 16, 11:12 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNLogan, Noble, Payne33 min
May 16, 11:20 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningOUNLogan, Oklahoma3 hr
May 16, 11:20 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningOUNCleveland, McClain3 hr
May 16, 11:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNLincoln, Logan, Oklahoma60 min
May 16, 11:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCleveland, Grady, McClain60 min
May 16, 11:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNPayne50 min
May 16, 11:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNStephens45 min
May 16, 11:47 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNGarvin28 min
May 16, 11:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNPottawatomie48 min
May 17, 12:08 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningOUNCaddo, Grady112 min
May 17, 12:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNChoctaw, Pushmataha68 min
May 17, 1:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCarter, Johnston55 min
May 17, 1:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNPontotoc55 min
May 17, 1:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNAtoka, Coal60 min
May 17, 1:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNHughes60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes 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.