Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Norman, OK

July 17, 1987Comanche County, Kiowa County, Tillman County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at Jul 17, 1987, 4:34 PM CDT for Comanche County, Kiowa County, Tillman 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
Jul 17, 1987, 4:34 PM CDT (21:34 UTC)
Expired
Jul 17, 1987, 5:05 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Norman, OK
Area
Whole counties

Counties Comanche County, OK, Kiowa 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
Jul 17, 4:48 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Comanche, 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, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 36 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 1987-07-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 955 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 1987-07-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 281 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
955 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
574 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
281 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
259 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
4.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KOKC 172129
TOROKC
OKC031-075-141-172215-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
434 PM CDT FRI JUL 17 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA
          ...COMANCHE...NORTHERN TILLMAN...SOUTHERN KIOWA
 
AT 430 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CONTINUED OVER CENTRAL COMANCHE
COUNTY WITH A TORNADO REPORTED 8 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF CACHE
AROUND 420 PM. ANOTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM HAS DEVELOPED FURTHER WEST
IN THE SNYDER AREA. A TORNADO ALSO WAS REPORTED WITH THIS STORM 3
MILES SOUTH OF SNYDER AROUND 430 PM. THE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 20
MPH.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

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

Local storm report, Jul 17, 4:12 PM CDT, 22 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
411 PM CDT FRI JUL 17 1987

TIME    COUNTY         REPORT
408 PM  COMANCHE       WINDS GREATER THAN 70 MPH IN INDIAHOMA.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 17, 3:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNComanche, Kiowa40 min
Jul 17, 3:57 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNComanche33 min
Jul 17, 4:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCaddo, Grady51 min
Jul 17, 5:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCaddo, Comanche, Grady47 min
Jul 17, 5:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGarvin, Grady, McClain49 min
Jul 17, 6:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCleveland, McClain60 min
Jul 17, 6:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNPottawatomie53 min
Jul 17, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGarvin, Grady32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes in 1987

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.