Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 17, 1986LeFlore County, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1986, 3:03 AM CDT for LeFlore County, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 57 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, 3:03 AM CDT (08:03 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1986, 4:00 AM CDT
In force: 57 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, 8.1 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 170803
TORFSM
OKC079-135-170900-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT SMITH AR
303 AM CDT SAT MAY 17 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

OKLAHOMA...NORTHERN LEFLORE AND SOUTHERN SEQUOYAH

AT 300 AM A TORNADO WAS REPORTED NEAR SALLISAW OKLAHOMA
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

THIS IS A LARGE AND DANGEROUS STORM AND RESIDENTS SHOULD TAKE
SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

IF YOU OBSERVE LARGE HAIL OR STRONG WINDS PLEASE RELAY YOUR REPORT
TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION
STATIONS FOR MORE INFORMATION.

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, 2:40 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	LeFlore, Sequoyah	50 min

Nearby

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