Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 13, NWS Norman, OK
NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at Sep 15, 1987, 5:37 PM CDT for Oklahoma County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 23 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
- Sep 15, 1987, 5:37 PM CDT (22:37 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 15, 1987, 6:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 23 min
- Issued by
- NWS Norman, OK
- Area
- Whole counties
County Oklahoma 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 5:47 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Oklahoma, 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 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 24 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 52 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -165 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 862 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 144 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 158 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KOKC 152237
TOROKC
OKC109-152300-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
537 PM CDT TUE SEP 15 1987
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
...NORTHERN OKLAHOMA
AT 535 PM CDT SPOTTERS REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO DEVELOPING NEAR
MEMORIAL AND BROADWAY IN EDMOND. THE STORM IS MOVING TOWARD THE
NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES PER HOUR. PERSONS IN EDMOND SHOULD TAKE COVER.
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.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, Sep 15, 4:46 PM CDT, 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK 445 PM CDT TUE SEP 15 1987 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 526 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM FOR SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA. AT 435 PM CDT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED IN BRYAN AND CHOCTAW COUNTIES OKLAHOMA. ELSEWHERE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER CENTRAL AND EAS~TERN OKLAHOMA. IN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA THE STRONGEST ACTIVITY WAS LOCATED IN CANADAIN AND CARTER COUNTIES. MOVEMENT WAS TO NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Sep 15, 5:33 PM CDT, 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA FALLS TX 535 PM CDT TUE SEP 15 1987 AT 530 PM THE WICHITA FALLS RADAR SHOWED AN ISOLATED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM LOCATED MIDWAY BETWEEN SEYMOUR AND WESTOVER. THIS STORM IS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN AND COULD ALSO PRODUCE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SOME SMALL HAIL. THIS THUNDER STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. AT THIS MOVEMENT...THIS STORM WILL MOVE INTO THE V%ICINITY OF DUNDEE AND MANKINS DURING THE NEXT HALF HOUR TO 45 MINUTES. ELSEWHERE IN THIS PORTION OF NORTH TEXAS OTHER SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER WESTERN PORTIONS OF YOUNG COUNTY.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Norman, OK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 8:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Hughes | 34 min |
| Sep 14, 8:58 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | OUN | Love, Marshall | 3 hr |
| Sep 15, 4:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Canadian | 47 min |
| Sep 15, 4:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Atoka, Pushmataha | 56 min |
| Sep 15, 5:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma | 56 min |
| Sep 15, 5:24 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OUN | Logan | 36 min |
| Sep 15, 5:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Canadian | 28 min |
| Sep 15, 5:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Lincoln | 45 min |
| Sep 15, 5:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Canadian, Grady | 50 min |
| Sep 15, 5:55 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OUN | Lincoln | 50 min |
| Sep 15, 6:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OUN | Payne | 49 min |
| Sep 15, 6:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Oklahoma | 45 min |
| Sep 15, 6:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | McClain, Pottawatomie | 57 min |
| Sep 15, 6:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Garvin | 57 min |
| Sep 15, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Canadian, Grady | 32 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.