Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 77, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 17, 1986LeFlore County, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1986, 2:40 AM CDT for LeFlore County, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 50 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 17, 1986, 2:40 AM CDT (07:40 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1986, 3:30 AM CDT
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Whole counties

Counties LeFlore County, OK, Sequoyah 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 17, 3:10 AM CDT	Tornado F1	Sequoyah, OK
May 17, 3:35 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Le Flore, 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

Springfield, MO (KUMN), launched 00:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 207 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1582 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1040 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 104 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFSM 170740
SVRFSM
OKC079-135-170845-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT SMITH AR
240 AM CDT SAT MAY 17 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

OKLAHOMA...LEFLORE AND SEQUOYAH

AT 235 AM A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS INDICATED BY
VIAN OKLAHOMA IN SEQUOYAH COUNTY EXTENDING SOUTHEAST OF
MC ALESTER OKLAHOMA MOVING EAST 50 MPH.

LARGE HAIL AND STRONG SURFACE WINDS WILL OCCUR WITH THIS STORM. IF
YOU OBSERVE ANY LARGE HAIL OR STRONG WINDS PLEASE RELAY YOUR
REPORT TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.

ALTHOUGH TORNADOES HAVE NOT BEEN DETECTED WITH THIS STORM..A TORNADO
WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT. TORNADOES CAN DEVELOP WITHOUT WARNING FROM
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

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

Local storm report, May 17, 2:14 AM CDT, 26 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
208  AM CDT SAT MAY 17 1986

 TIME           EVENT  (CD=CIVIL DEFENSE.  OHP=OKLA. HIGHWAY PATROL)
 1203  AM CDT   60 TO 70 MPH WINDS AT MARAMAC OKLAHOMA.  REPORT
                FROM THE C.D.                       PAWNEE COUNTY.
 1214  AM CDT   BRISTOW C.D. REPORTS ROTATION JUST SOUTHWEST OF
                OF THE CITY.  NO FUNNEL SIGHTED.  CREEK COUNTY.
 1223  AM CDT   50 MPH WINDS REPORTED AT HIGHWAY 99 AND CIMMARRON
                TURNPIKE IN PAWNEE COUNTY.  REPORTED HAM BY SPOTTER.
 1225  AM CDT   70 MPH WINDS REPORTED AT HIGHWAY 99 AND CIMMARRON
                TURNPIKE IN PAWNEE COUNTY.  REPORTED BY HAM SPOTTER.
 1225  AM CDT   60 MPH WINDS REPORTED BY C.D. AT JENNINGS OKLAHOMA.
                PAWNEE COUNTY.
 1237  AM CDT   60 MPH WINDS AT OILTON OKLAHOMA.  REPORT FROM C.D
                CREEK COUNTY.
 1238  AM CDT   CLEVELAND OKLAHOMA REPORTS A TOTAL POWER OUTAGE IN
                THE TOWN.  REPORT FROM C.D. AT BARTLESVILLE.
                PAWNEE COUNTY.
 1238  AM CDT   HALLETTE OKLAHOMA HAS TREES AND LINES DOWN.  REPORT
                CAME THROUGH C.D.  PAWNEE COUNTY.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 11:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Creek	56 min
May 16, 11:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage, Pawnee	68 min
May 17, 12:09 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Okfuskee	31 min
May 17, 12:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Rogers, Tulsa	60 min
May 17, 1:11 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Okmulgee	64 min
May 17, 3:03 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	LeFlore, Sequoyah	57 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Oklahoma, 1986 Every 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.