Alert archive / Oklahoma / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 11, NWS Tulsa, OK

August 20, 1989Tulsa County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this flash flood warning at Aug 20, 1989, 2:40 AM CDT for Tulsa County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Aug 20, 1989, 2:40 AM CDT (07:40 UTC)
Expired: Aug 20, 1989, 3:45 AM CDT
In force: 65 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Whole counties

County Tulsa 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

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 00:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 166 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: 2435 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1542 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 220 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 5.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUL 200740
FFWTUL
OKC143-200845-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
240 AM CDT SUN AUG 20 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
          ...TULSA
 
RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF THREE INCHES IN 45 MINUTES HAVE OCCURRED IN WEST
TULSA WITH SAND SPRINGS RECEIVING MOST OF THE RAINFALL. THE POLICE
DEPARTMENT THERE REPORTS SOME BUSINESSES HAVE EXPERIENCED FLOODING
IN PARTS OF THE CITY. SOME SMALL STREAMS AND NORMALLY FLOOD-PRONE
AREAS WILL SEE STANDING WATER FOR THE NEXT ONE TO TWO HOURS...UNTIL
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE METRO AREA MOVE TO THE SOUTHEAST. UNTIL THEY
DO...DO NOT DRIVE ACROSS AREAS OF HIGH WATER...AND MOVE TO A SAFE
PLACE IF RISING WATER OCCUR WHERE YOU ARE.
 
 
MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT DRIVE YOUR
VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY.  THE WATER
MAY BE TOO DEEP TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY.  IF YOUR
VEHICLE GETS CAUGHT IN RISING WATER...ABANDONED IT QUICKLY.  THEN
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
SOME TULSA AREA CREEKS AND LOW AREAS CAN EXPECT FLOODING DURING
THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. POLICE AND CIVIL DEFENSE OFFICIALS ARE
ADVISING PEOPLE TO BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND LOCATIONS
ON SHORT NOTICE.
 
KEEP TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER BULLETINS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, Aug 19, 10:55 PM CDT, 3 hours 45 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
1055 PM CDT SAT AUG 19 1989

   TIME/CDT  COUNTY       EVENT  (CD=CIVIL DEFENSE  OHP=OK HIGHWAY PAT'L)
       1900   NOWATA      CD REPORTED QUARTER SIZE HAILM JUST SOUTH OF
                          SOUTH COFFEYVILLE.

APPROX 2100   OTTAWA      60+ MPH WINDS DOWNED TREES IN PEORIA. REPORTS
                          OF NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ON ROADS IN PEORIA.

Local storm report, Aug 20, 2:30 AM CDT, 10 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
224 AM CDT SUN AUG 20 1989

   TIME/CDT  COUNTY       EVENT  (CD=CIVIL DEFENSE  OHP=OK HIGHWAY PAT'L)
   1150PM    NOWATA       REPORT OF 8 INCHES OF RAINFALL IN SOUTH COFFEY/
                          VILLE. MOST ROADS UNDER WATER WITH EVACUATION
                          OF MANY HOMES NECESSARY.

   1255AM    OSAGE/       PUBLIC REPORTED FIVE INCHES OF RAIN NEAR HULAH
      N. WASHINGTON       RESERVOIR. ALSO REPORTS OF LOCALIZED FLOODING
                          NEAR COPAN AS A RESULT OF 4.5 INCHES OF RAIN
                          THERE.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 19, 8:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Craig, Ottawa	59 min
Aug 19, 10:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage, Washington	68 min
Aug 19, 11:44 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Nowata	3 hr
Aug 20, 3:06 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Tulsa	2 hr
Aug 20, 5:18 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Tulsa	117 min
Aug 20, 7:11 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Tulsa	2 hr
Aug 20, 12:49 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Osage, Washington	3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Oklahoma, 1989 Every flash flood 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.