Alert archive / Oklahoma / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 7, NWS Tulsa, OK

June 11, 1989Nowata County, Washington County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this flash flood warning at Jun 11, 1989, 2:46 AM CDT for Nowata County, Washington County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jun 11, 1989, 2:46 AM CDT (07:46 UTC)
Expired: Jun 11, 1989, 6:45 AM CDT
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Whole counties

Counties Nowata County, OK, Washington 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 00:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 175 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: 349 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -61 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 918 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 177 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUL 110747
FFWTUL
OKC105-147-111145-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
246 AM CDT SUN JUN 11 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
          ...NORTHERN NOWATA...NORTHERN WASHINGTON
 
THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALVES OF NOWATA
AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES. RAINFALL REPORTS INDICATE THAT 5 TO 7 INCHES
OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN IN THESE AREAS. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE
ALSO FORMED ACROSS CENTRAL OKLAHOMA AND WILL MOVE OVER THE ALREADY
FLOODED AREAS...WITH ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES
POSSIBLE BEFORE THE RAINS DIMINISH BY LATE MORNING. RESIDENTS OF
THESE COUNTIES ARE STRONGLY URGED TO STAY AWAY FROM FLOODED AREAS
...AND SHOULD BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IF FLOOD WATERS
APPROACH.
 
 
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS LIKELY OR HAS BEEN
REPORTED.  STAY ALERT AND WATCH FOR RAPIDLY RISING WATER.
REMEMBER...IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO THE
NEAREST STREAM...CREEK OR RIVER WHICH CAN BECOME A KILLER DURING
PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN.
 
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.
 
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, Jun 10, 9:08 PM CDT, 5 hours 38 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
907 PM CDT SAT JUN 10 1989

 TIME/CDT COUNTY      EVENT  (CD=CIVIL DEFENSE  OHP=OK HIGHWAY PAT'L)
 8 29 PM  WASHINGTON  A TORNADO BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN 4 MILES SOUTH/
                      WEST OF CANEY, KS...JUST INSIDE THE OKLAHOMA/
                      KANSAS STATE LINE. DAMAGE WAS CONFINED TO TREES
                      ONLY IN THAT AREA.

 8 15 PM  WASHINGTON  GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED SOUTH OF CANEY, KS
                      JUST INSIDE THE OKLAHOMA/KANSAS BORDER ON THE
                      OKLAHOMA SIDE.

Local storm report, Jun 10, 9:33 PM CDT, 5 hours 13 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
931 PM CDT SAT JUN 10 1989

 TIME/CDT COUNTY      EVENT  (CD=CIVIL DEFENSE  OHP=OK HIGHWAY PAT'L)
 8 00 PM  OSAGE       60 MPH WIND REPORTED NEAR HULAH RESEVOIR BY OSAGE
                      COUNTY SHERIFF DEPT.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 10, 7:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage	56 min
Jun 10, 8:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Washington	57 min
Jun 10, 8:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Washington	51 min
Jun 10, 9:42 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Washington	63 min
Jun 10, 10:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Nowata	54 min
Jun 10, 10:24 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Nowata	66 min
Jun 10, 10:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Craig	55 min
Jun 10, 10:44 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Washington	4 hr
Jun 10, 11:11 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Nowata	4 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.