Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 30, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 21, 1987Nowata County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 1987, 6:53 PM CDT for Nowata County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 67 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 21, 1987, 6:53 PM CDT (23:53 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1987, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

County Nowata County, OK

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KUMN), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 162 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 1987-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1974 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 1987-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 31 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
1974 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-97 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
910 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
84 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 KTUL 212353
SVRTUL
OKC113-147-105-220100-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
653 PM CDT THU MAY 21 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
          ...EASTERN OSAGE...WASHINGTON...NORTHWEST NOWATA
 
AT 652 PM CDT THE TULSA RADAR WAS INDICATING TWO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
...ONE LOCATED 7 MILES WEST OF BARTLESVILLE OKLAHOMA...THE OTHER JUST
NORTHWEST OF SKIATOOK OKLAHOMA.  OTHER STRONG STORMS WERE LOCATED
ACROSS EASTERN OSAGE COUNTY.   STORM WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT
ABOUT 20 MPH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH,
LARGE HAIL, DEADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.  FOR YOUR
PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR
HOME OR BUSINESS.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  R+EMEMBER,
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
 
KEEP TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER BULLETINS.

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

Special weather statement, May 21, 4:33 PM CDT, 2 hours 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
426 PM CDT THU MAY 21 1987

 ...THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORMING ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA...

AT 4 20 PM THE TULSA WEATHER RADAR WAS INDICATING SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
THAT HAD RAPIDLY DEVELOPED ALONG A COLD FRONT. THIS FRONT WAS LOCATED
MIDWAY BETWEEN JOPLIN MO AND CHANUTE KS SOUTHWEST TO NEAR OKLAHOMA CITY.
THIS FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY MOVE SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE NORTHEASTERN
THIRD OF THE STATE

THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THAT THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE AND
COULD PRODUCE TORNADOES LATER THIS EVENING. PERSONS PLANNING OUTDOOR
ACTIVITIES THIS EVENING SHOULD KEEP IN MIND THAT SEVERE WEATHER IS LIKELY
...AND SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR SUCH AN EVENT.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER UPDATES.
Special weather statement, May 21, 6:51 PM CDT, 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
644 PM CDT THU MAY 21 1987

 ...THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR TULSA..PAWNEE..AND CREEK COUNTIES CANCELLED..

THE THUNDERSTORMS THAT WERE APPROACHING TULSA FROM THE SOUTHWEST HAVE
DECREASED IN INTENSITY...AND AS A RESULT THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
THAT HAD BEEN IN EFFECT IS CANCELLED.

AT 6 45 PM THE TULSA WEATHER RADAR CONTINUES TO SHOW VERY HEAVY THUNDER/
STORMS NORTHWEST OF TULSA IN OSAGE COUNTY.  HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE
TO DEVELOP SOUTHWEST OF TULSA...AND THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER
WILL REMAIN HIGH FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS IN NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR OSAGE COUNTY WILL REMAIN IN EF FECT
UNTIL 7 PM.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.

TEAGUE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 5:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOsage54 min
May 21, 5:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek62 min
May 21, 5:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOsage62 min
May 21, 5:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek, Pawnee, Tulsa46 min
May 21, 6:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOsage, Washington67 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Oklahoma, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.