Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 252, NWS Norman, OK

May 31, 1989Roger Mills County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1989, 8:38 PM CDT for Roger Mills County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 52 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 31, 1989, 8:38 PM CDT (01:38 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 1989, 9:30 PM CDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Norman, OK
Area: Whole counties

County Roger Mills 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
May 31, 8:59 PM CDT	Hail 0.88	Roger Mills, 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

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 189 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: 1285 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -96 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1315 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 115 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.5
Supercell composite: 2.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KOKC 010139
SVROKC
OKC129-010230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
838 PM CDT WED MAY 31 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OKLAHOMA CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM CDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING OKLAHOMA LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA
 
   ...ROGER MILLS COUNTY
 
AT 838 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES WEST OF ROLL
MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. PERSONS IN ROLL... AND ANGORA ARE IN THE PATH
OF THIS STORM. THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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

Local storm report, May 31, 6:23 PM CDT, 2 hours 15 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
623 PM CDT WED MAY 31 1989

         ...STORM REPORT FROM WEDNESDAY EVENING MAY 31...

TIME (CDT)  COUNTY        EVENT
610 PM      ELLIS         NICKEL-SIZED HAIL IN SHATTUCK

Local storm report, May 31, 7:32 PM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
730 PM CDT WED MAY 31 1989

         ...STORM REPORT FROM WEDNESDAY EVENING MAY 31...

TIME (CDT)  COUNTY        EVENT
727 PM      ELLIS         GOBLFBALL-SIZED HAIL 11/2 WEST OF ARNETT

Local storm report, May 31, 7:52 PM CDT, 46 minutes before

STORM REPORT...CORRECTION ON REPORT LOCATION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
730 PM CDT WED MAY 31 1989

         ...STORM REPORT FROM WEDNESDAY EVENING MAY 31...

TIME (CDT)  COUNTY       p EVENT
727 PM      ELLIS         GOLFBALL-SIZED HAIL 41/2 WEST OF ARNETT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 7:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Ellis, Woodward	64 min
May 31, 9:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Custer, Dewey	46 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Oklahoma, 1989 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.