Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 32, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 21, 1987Ottawa County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 1987, 8:12 PM CDT for Ottawa County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 48 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
May 21, 1987, 8:12 PM CDT (01:12 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1987, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

County Ottawa 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
May 21, 8:23 PM CDTHail 0.75Ottawa, 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, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 90 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 00:00Z on 1987-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2724 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1987-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 53 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
2724 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1339 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
53 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
53 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUL 220112
SVRTUL
OKC115-220200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
812 PM CDT THU MAY 21 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
          ...OTTAWA
 
AT 8 15 PM THE TULSA WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
NEAR MAIMI OKLAHOMA. THIS THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST
AT 30 MPH.
{Basis}
 
 
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.
 
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, 3 hours 39 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, 1 hour 21 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
Local storm report, May 21, 7:15 PM CDT, 57 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
715 PM CDT THU MAY 21 1987

 TIME/CST COUNTY      EVENT  (CD=CIVIL DEFENSE  OHP=OK HIGHWAY PAT'L)
 544  PM  CREEK       SPOTTERS REPORTED 3/4 INCH HAIL EAST OF
                      MANNFORD OKLAHOMA.
 548  PM  PAWNEE      ONE INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED BY HAM SPOTTERS
                      ALONG HIGHWAY 45 WEST OF WESTPORT.
 617  PM  OSAGE       OHP TROOPER REPORTED HEAVY HAIL ABOUT THE SIZE
             ?         OF DIMES HITTING CAR IN PAWHUSKA OKLAHOMA.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 7:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOsage, Tulsa64 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.