Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Norman, OK

May 15, 1990Canadian County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at May 15, 1990, 6:02 PM CDT for Canadian County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 58 min. 3 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
May 15, 1990, 6:02 PM CDT (23:02 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1990, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Norman, OK
Area
Whole counties

County Canadian 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 15, 6:05 PM CDTTornado F1Canadian, OK
May 15, 6:38 PM CDTHail 1.75Canadian, OK
May 15, 7:00 PM CDTHail 0.75Canadian, 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

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 64 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, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 1990-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1460 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, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 1990-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 268 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1460 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-270 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
866 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
268 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
211 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KOKC 152304
TOROKC
OKC017-160000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
602 PM CDT TUE MAY 15 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OKLAHOMA CITY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM CDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING OKLAHOMA LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
 
   ...CANADIAN COUNTY
 
AT 602 PM A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS LOCATED ALONG I40 AT THE BLAINE
COUNTY LINE SOUTHWEST OF CALUMET. MOVEMENT WAS TOWARD THE EAST AT 30
MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

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

Special weather statement, May 15, 1:03 PM CDT, 4 hours 59 minutes before
OKZALL-161200-

OKLAHOMA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
100 PM CDT TUE MAY 15 1990

...REFER TO TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 236 VALID UNTIL 4 PM FOR PORTIONS
   OF NORTHCENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA...

OTHERWISE THERE IS A HIGH RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT ACROSS ALL BUT PANHANDLE AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST SECTIONS OF
OKLAHOMA. A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS COVERS EXTREME
SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA TONIGHT. THE HIGH RISK AREA IS LOCATED EAST OF A
LINE FROM ARNETT TO THE KANSAS LINE NORTH OF BUFFALO...AND NORTHWEST
OF A LINE FROM WAURIKA...TO PAULS VALLEY...TO POTEAU.

THIS IS A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION WITH THE POSSIBILTY
OF TORNADOES...VERY LARGE HAIL...AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS.

BY EARLY AFTERNOON LOW PRESSURE WAS CENTERED IN CENTRAL KANSAS WITH
A DRYLINE EXTENDING SOUTHWESTWARD ACROSS THE EASTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE.
ACROSS OKLAHOMA VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR WAS FLOWING NORTHWARD.
WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING ACROSS
PORTIONS OF SOUTHCENTRAL AND NORTHCENTRAL OKLAHOMA. ALTHOUGH ISOLATED
SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA THIS
AFTERNOON...THE MAIN FOCUS FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE FURTHER WEST.

BY MID AFTERNOON THE DRYLINE IS EXPECTED TO PUSH INTO NORTHWEST
OKLAHOMA WHERE THE AIRMASS WILL HAVE BECOME EXTREMELY UNSTABLE. RAPID
DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED BY LATE AFTERNOON
ACROSS WESTERN OKLAHOMA WITH STORMS MOVING EASTWARD DURING THE EVENING.
LATEST DATA INDICATES THAT A FEW SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP
WITH TORNADOES AND VERY LARGE HAIL THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREATS.

INITIAL THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED BETWEEN 4 AND 5 PM NEAR
A FREEDOM...CHEYENNE...HOLLIS LINE.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WILL MONITOR THE DEVELOPING
SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON.

CIVIL DEFENSE AND SPOTTER GROUPS ACROSS OKLAHOMA SHOULD PREPAR0E FOR
ACTIVATION THIS AFTERNOON. RESIDENTS ARE URGED TO LISTEN FOR LATER
STATEMENTS AND SEVERE WEATHER WATCHES AND WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE.
Local storm report, May 15, 1:43 PM CDT, 4 hours 19 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT...DELAYED REPORTS FROM EVENING OF MAY 14
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
140 PM CDT TUE MAY 15 1990

TIME(CDT)     COUNTY           EVENT
840 PM         WOODWARD         HALF 5DOLLAR SIZE HAIL JUST EAST OF QUINLAN
845 PM         MAJOR            QUARTER SIZE HAIL 5 NORTH OF BOUSE JUNCTION
Special weather statement, May 15, 4:32 PM CDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before
TXZ019-020-152230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA FALLS TX
430 PM CDT TUE MAY 15 1990

AT 428 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A VERY STRONG THUNDRSTORM JUST SOUTH
OF THE KNOX COUNTY LINE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

THIS STORM IS TRACKING TOWARD THE COMMUNITY OF MUNDAY. SMALL HAIL
IS LIKELY WITH THIS STORM ALONG WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS. STRONG GUSTY
WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE ALSO A POSSIBILITY.

ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED DURING THE AFTERNOON.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 7:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNEllis, Roger Mills47 min
May 14, 7:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGrant48 min
May 14, 7:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNDewey, Woodward58 min
May 14, 8:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNMajor, Woods, Woodward56 min
May 14, 9:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNAlfalfa, Woods55 min
May 15, 3:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNDewey52 min
May 15, 3:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNMajor43 min
May 15, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBlaine, Dewey, Major48 min
May 15, 5:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBlaine, Garfield, Kingfisher, Major55 min
May 15, 5:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBlaine, Caddo, Custer42 min
May 15, 5:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBlaine, Canadian, Kingfisher, Major61 min
May 15, 5:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGarfield, Logan61 min
May 15, 6:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCanadian33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes in 1990

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.