Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Norman, OK

May 8, 1986Cotton County, Tillman County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at May 8, 1986, 6:00 PM CDT for Cotton County, Tillman County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 45 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 8, 1986, 6:00 PM CDT (23:00 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 1986, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
45 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 8, 6:13 PM CDTHail 1Tillman, 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

Fort Sill, OK (KFSI), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 42 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, Fort Sill, OK at 12:00Z on 1986-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 746 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Fort Sill, OK at 12:00Z on 1986-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 236 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
746 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-141 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
886 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
236 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
248 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
5.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KOKC 082301
TOROKC
OKC141-033-082345-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
600 PM CDT THU MAY 8 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS EXTENDED THE TORNADO WARNING
FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF SOUTHWESTERN
OKLAHOMA UNTIL 645 PM CDT...

SOUTHEASTERN TILLMAN AND WESTERN COTTON

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM HAS BUILT SOUTHWESTWARD BACK INTO THE
GRANDFIELD AREA. DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUES TO SHOW A CIRCULATION
IN SOUTHEASTERN TILLMAN COUNTY. ROTATION HAS ALSO BEEN OBSERVED
BY SPOTTERS NORTHEAST OF GRANDFIELD AND 6 MILES WEST OF THE
WALTERS EXIT OF INTERSTATE 44.

PERSONS IN THE AREA BETWEEN GRANDFIELD AND WALTERS SHOULD REMAIN
IN A SAFE PLACE UNTIL THE ALL CLEAR IS GIVEN.

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 8, 2:48 PM CDT, 3 hours 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA FALLS TX
245PM CDT THU MAY 8 1986

...THUNDERSTORM JUST SOUTH OF VERNON...

AN ISOLATED BUT VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 15 MILES SOUTH
OF VERNON. MOVEMENT WAS NORTH NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM
WILL BE MOVING INTO THE VERNON VICINITY IN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES. AREA
RESIDENTS SHOULF BE ALERT FOR DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..GUSTY WINDS..AND
POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL.

ELSEWHERE...THUNDERSTORMS HAVE INTENSIFIED IN EXTREME SOUTHWEST
OKLAHOMA. OUTFLOW WINDS FROM THUNDERSTORMS CLOSE TO THE RED RIVER
MAY CAUSE STRONG GUSTY WINDS. RESIDENTS IN EXTREME NORTHERN HARDEMAN
COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THIS DEVELOPMENT.

                                                                      .
Special weather statement, May 8, 2:54 PM CDT, 3 hours 6 minutes before
OKLAHOMA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
300 PM CDT THU MAY 8 1986

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR MUCH OF WESTERN AND
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA. OTHERWISE THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT OVER MOST OF WESTERN AND
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA. THE RISK AREA IS WEST OF A LINE FROM BARTLESVILLE
TO ARDMORE.. BUT EXCLUDES THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE. A SLIGHT RISK OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT OVER THE
REST OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA.

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAS MOVED INTO EXTREME WESTERN OKLAHOMA
THIS AFTERNOON, WITH OTHER THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER THE NORTHWEST
PART OF THE STATE. THE GREATEST NEAR-TERM CONCERN IS WITH THE LINE OF
STORMS NEAR THE WESTERN BORDER. SPOTTER NETWORKS IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA
SHOULD BE ACTIVATED OR ON STANDBY AT THIS TIME.

THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS ASSOCIATED WITH A DRY LINE MOVING SLOWLY
EASTWARD THROUGH THE EASTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE. AHEAD OF THE FRONT, THE
AIR REMAINS VERY MOIST AND VERY UNSTABLE OVER OKLAHOMA. ALOFT, A LARGE
UPPER LOW CENTER LIES OVER THE CENTRAL ROCKIES. WINDS ALOFT MOVING
AROUND THIS LOW HAVE BACKED TO A MORE SOUTHERLY DIRECTION OVER WESTERN
OKLAHOMA, WHILE REMAINING SOUTHWESTERLY OVER EASTERN PARTS OF THE STATE.
THIS PATTERN OF DIVERGING WINDS ALOFT IS FAVORABLE FOR ENHANCING THE
LIFTING OF THE AIR NEEDED TO TRIGGER AND MAINTAIN STRONG THUNDERSTORMS.

A DISTURBANCE IN THE UPPER FLOW IS MOVING NORTHEASTWARD FROM NEW
MEXICO, AND WILL SERVE TO FURTHER ENHANCE THE LIFTING PROCESS OVER
WESTERN OKLAHOMA THROUGH THIS EVENING. THIS DISTURBANCE WL ALSO ASSIST
IN PUSHING THE DRY LINE SLOWLY EASTWARD, WITH SEVERE WEATHER MOVING
EASTWARD INTO CENTRAL OKLAHOMA LATER THIS EVENING. SEVERE WEATHER COULD
CONTINUE INTO TONIGHT AND SPREAD INTO EASTERN OKLAHOMA, BUT THE SEVERE
POTENTIAL WILL DECREASE WITH THE LOSS OF AFTERNOON HEATING.

SPOTTER NETWORKS IN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED BY EARLY
EVENING, WHILE THOSE IN EASTERN OKLAHOMA MAY BE NEEDED LATER TONIGHT.
ALL INTERESTS ARE ADVISED TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE LATEST WEATHER
INFORMATION AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 8, 3:15 PM CDT, 2 hours 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT..CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA FALLS TX
315PM CDT THU MAY 8 1986

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING
NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COUNTIES...ARCHER..BAYLOR..CLAY JACK..MONTAGUE..
WICHITA..WILBARGER AND YOUNG.

SHORTLY AFTER 3PM CDT THE WICHITA FALLS RADAR SHOWED A SMALL AREA OF
VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS FROM EAST OF SEYMOUR TO JUST WEST OF ELECTRA.

ELSEWHERE..THUNDERSTORMS IN EXTREME SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA WERE BUILDING
ACROSS THE RED RIVER INTO THE QUANAH VICINITY OF HARDEMAN COUNTY.
MOVEMENT OF ALL THUNDERSTORMS WAS NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

RESIDENTS IN AND NEAR THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY
CHANGING CONDITIONS WHICH INCLUDE GUSTY WINDS..HEAVY RAIN..FREQUENT
LIGHTNING AND SMALL HAIL.
Special weather statement, May 8, 4:02 PM CDT, 1 hour 58 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA FALLS TX
500 PM CDT THU MAY 8 1986

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF NORTHCENTRAL TEXAS
UNTIL 10 PM INCLUDING WICHITA AND THE SURROUNDING COUNTIES...

AT 450 PM A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM HAD DEVELOPED IN EXTREME SOUTH
WESTERN YOUNG COUNTY...12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NEWCASTLE. VERY HEAVY RAINS
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED
WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM. RESIDENTS IN SOUTHWESTERN AND CENTRAL PORTIONS
OF YOUNG COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT TO THIS THUNDERSTORM.

ELSEWHERE A THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS LOCATED OVER THE
RED RIVER IN EXTREME NORTHWESTERN WICHITA COUNTY. THIS THUNDERSTORM
WILL MOVE OUT OF THE COUNTY DURING THE NEXT 10 MINUTES.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED BETWEEN JACKSBORO AND
SEYMOUR.
IN WESTERN AND SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA...A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS SOME
SEVERE STRETCHED FROM CAMARGO SOUTH TO THE RED RIVER NEAR ELDORADO.
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITHIN THIS LINE WAS LOCATED JUST WEST OF ALTUS.
GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THIS THUNDER
STORM.

ALL PRECIPITATION MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 35 MPH.
Special weather statement, May 8, 4:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT ...CORRECTION...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA FALLS TX
400 PM CDT THU MAY 8 1986

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF NORTHCENTRAL TEXAS
UNTIL 10 PM INCLUDING WICHITA AND THE SURROUNDING COUNTIES...

AT 350 PM A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM HAD DEVELOPED IN EXTREME SOUTH
WESTERN YOUNG COUNTY...12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NEWCASTLE. VERY HEAVY RAINS
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED
WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM. RESIDENTS IN SOUTHWESTERN AND CENTRAL PORTIONS
OF YOUNG COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT TO THIS THUNDERSTORM.

ELSEWHERE A THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS LOCATED OVER THE
RED RIVER IN EXTREME NORTHWESTERN WICHITA COUNTY. THIS THUNDERSTORM
WILL MOVE OUT OF THE COUNTY DURING THE NEXT 10 MINUTES.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED BETWEEN JACKSBORO AND
SEYMOUR.
IN WESTERN AND SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA...A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS SOME
SEVERE STRETCHED FROM CAMARGO SOUTH TO THE RED RIVER NEAR ELDORADO.
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITHIN THIS LINE WAS LOCATED JUST WEST OF ALTUS.
GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THIS THUNDER
STORM.

ALL PRECIPITATION MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 35 MPH.
Special weather statement, May 8, 5:59 PM CDT, 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA FALLS TX
600 PM CDT THU MAY 8 1986

...A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR WICHITA AND THE SURROUNDING
COUNTIES UNTIL 10 PM CDT...

AT 555 PM RADAR INDICATED ONLY A FEW LIGHT RAINSHOWERS OCCURRING OVER
THIS PORTION OF NORTHCENTRAL TEXAS. THIS ACTIVITY WAS FALLING OVER
NORTHERN WICHITA AND NORTHERN CLAY COUNTIES AS WELL AS PORTIONS OF
SOUTHERN JACK AND SOUTHERN MONTAGUE COUNTIES.

HOWEVER VERY INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED IN SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA
TO THE NORTH OF WICHITA FALLS. THE STRONGEST WAS LOCATED BETWEEN HOLLISTER
AND DEVOL. THIS THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED A TORNADO TO THE WEST OF GRANDFIELD
EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON. ANOTHER VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITHIN THIS
AREA WAS LOCATED 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF DEVOL.

MOVEMENT OF ALL THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 2:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNEllis, Roger Mills62 min
May 8, 2:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNHarmon, Jackson54 min
May 8, 3:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGreer, Jackson65 min
May 8, 3:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNKiowa, Washita50 min
May 8, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNKiowa, Washita49 min
May 8, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGreer, Jackson49 min
May 8, 4:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNWoods37 min
May 8, 4:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCaddo, Comanche61 min
May 8, 5:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNWoods45 min
May 8, 5:10 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNCotton, Tillman50 min
May 8, 6:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCaddo, Canadian, Grady, Kingfisher56 min
May 8, 6:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNComanche56 min
May 8, 6:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNOklahoma51 min
May 8, 6:40 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNLogan, Oklahoma35 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.