Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 8, 1989Adair County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 8, 1989, 8:58 PM CDT for Adair County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 47 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 8, 1989, 8:58 PM CDT (01:58 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 1989, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

County Adair 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 8, 9:00 PM CDTHail 0.88Adair, 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, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 137 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 1989-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1380 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1989-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 222 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1380 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-37 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
643 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
222 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
212 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.5
Supercell composite
8.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUL 090159
SVRTUL
OKC001-090245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
858 PM CDT MON MAY 8 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
          ...EASTERN ADAIR
 
AT 855 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR
WATTS TO NEAR STILWELL OKLAHOMA MOVING TO THE SOUTH SOUTHEAST AT
30 MILES PER HOURS.
PERSONS IN WESTVILLE AND STILWELL SHOULD TAKE PRECAUTIONS FROM
THESE STORMS.
 
 
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.

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 8, 3:08 PM CDT, 5 hours 50 minutes before
UPDATED OKLAHOMA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK FOR NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
300 PM CDT TUE MAY 08 1989

THIS IS AN UPDATED OKLAHOMA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK FOR NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA.
THIS OUTLOOK IS VALID FOR THAT PART OF OKLAHOMA EAST AND NORTH OF A LINE
FROM PONCA CITY TO THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF PITTSBURG COUNTY TO THE
ARKANSAS STATE LINE EAST OF PAGE. FOR OTHER AREAS IN OKLAHOMA...REFER
TO THE OKLAHOMA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK ISSUED AT NOON.

TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 196 WILL BE IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF NORTHEAST
OKLAHOMA UNTIL 9 PM CDT.

EARLY THIS AFTERNOON A COLD FRONT WAS MOVING SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS
CENTRAL KANSAS. AS THIS COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE WARM... MOIST AND
UNSTABLE AIR OVER NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA...THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST
TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WILL LIKELY BECOME SEVERE WITH A FEW TORNADOS POSSIBLE AS THEY MOVE
SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA.

SPOTTER NETWORKS AND CIVIL DEFENSE AGENCIES SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND BE
READY FOR ACTIVATION  FOR THE REMAINING OF THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING.
Local storm report, May 8, 8:48 PM CDT, 10 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
848 PM CDT MON MAY 08 1989

TIME(CDT)   COUNTY        REPORT

2025 PM     ADAIR        NICKEL SIZE HAIL FELL AT WATTS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 8:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAAdair31 min
May 8, 10:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSASequoyah39 min
May 8, 10:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAAdair49 min
May 8, 10:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore64 min
May 8, 10:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSASequoyah56 min
May 8, 11:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAAdair, Cherokee43 min
May 8, 11:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore60 min
May 9, 1:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAHaskell42 min
May 9, 2:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMuskogee40 min
May 9, 2:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore65 min
May 9, 2:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMuskogee44 min
May 9, 3:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALatimer45 min
May 9, 3:42 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore63 min
May 9, 4:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAHaskell, Muskogee54 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Oklahoma, 1989Every 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.