Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Tulsa, OK

April 5, 1988Muskogee County, Okmulgee County, Wagoner County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at Apr 5, 1988, 3:25 PM CDT for Muskogee County, Okmulgee County, Wagoner County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 65 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: Apr 5, 1988, 3:25 PM CDT (20:25 UTC)
Expired: Apr 5, 1988, 4:30 PM CDT
In force: 65 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Whole counties

Counties Muskogee County, OK, Okmulgee County, OK, Wagoner 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
Apr 5, 3:45 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Muskogee, OK
Apr 5, 3:50 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Muskogee, 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, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 183 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: 222 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -443 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1743 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 144 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 115 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 052026
TORTUL
OKC101-111-145-052130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
325 PM CDT TUE APR 5 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
          ...NORTHERN MUSKOGEE
IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
          ...EASTERN OKMULGEE...WAGONER
 
AT 322 PM RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 3 MILES NORTHEAST OF
MORRIS, OKLAHOMA MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
 
 
WATCH FOR SIGNS OF DEVELOPING STORMS.  LARGE HAILSTONES AND UNUSUALLY
LOW SWIRLING CLOUDS ARE MANY TIMES SEEN NEAR DEVELOPING TORNADOES.
STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND TORNADOES OFTEN PRODUCE A LOUD ROARING
SOUND THAT CAN BE HEARD IN THE VICINITY OF STORMS. FREQUENT AND
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING OCCURS WITH MOST SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

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, Apr 5, 3:08 PM CDT, 17 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
306 PM CDT TUE APR 05 1988

 TIME/CST COUNTY      EVENT  (CD=CIVIL DEFENSE  OHP=OK HIGHWAY PAT'L)
 304  PM  OKMULGEE    GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL COVERING THE GROUND IN
                      OKMULGEE OK. ONE INCH HAD ALREADY ACCUMULATED
                      AND STILL OCCURRING. REPORTED BY RESIDENT.

                                                         k

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 5, 2:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Okfuskee, Okmulgee	63 min
Apr 5, 3:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	McIntosh	64 min
Apr 5, 4:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Cherokee, Delaware	69 min
Apr 5, 4:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Pittsburg	62 min
Apr 5, 4:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Sequoyah	61 min
Apr 5, 4:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Haskell, Muskogee	58 min
Apr 5, 4:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Adair	51 min
Apr 5, 5:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	LeFlore, Sequoyah	55 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 1988 Every tornado warning in 1988 Tornadoes in 1988

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.