Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 16, 1991Creek County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1991, 6:28 PM CDT for Creek County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 47 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 16, 1991, 6:28 PM CDT (23:28 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 1991, 7:15 PM CDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Whole counties

County Creek County, OK

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 120 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: 2191 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 681 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 270 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 314 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.3
Supercell composite: 16.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUL 162328
TORTUL
OKC037-170015-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
628 PM CDT THU MAY 16 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ...
 
IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
 
   ...EASTERN CREEK COUNTY
 
AT 625 PM RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 1 MILE SOUTH OF MOUNDS
MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MPH. PEOPLE IN MOUNDS SHOULD
TAKE COVER NOW. A TORNADO WARNING CONTINUES FOR SOUTH TULSA COUNTY AND
NORTHERN OKMULGEE COUNTY UNTIL 645 PM.
 
 
WATCH FOR SIGNS OF DEVELOPING STORMS.  LARGE HAILSTONES AND UNUSUALLY
LOW SWIRLING CLOUDS ARE MANY TIMES SEEN NEAR DEVELOPING TORNADOES.
STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND TORNADOES OFTEN PRODUCE A LOUD ROARING
SOUND THAT CAN BE HEARD IN THE VICINITY OF STORMS. FREQUENT AND
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING OCCURS WITH MOST SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
 
REPORT ANY SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEARES_T LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND
ASK THEM TO RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

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

Local storm report, May 16, 1:29 PM CDT, 4 hours 59 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
125 PM CDT THU MAY 16 1991

TIME(CDT)     COUNTY        REPORT

 525 AM       OSAGE         DIME SIZE HAIL FELL 3 MILES EAST OF
                            BURBANK.
 610 AM       OSAGE         DIME SIZE HAIL AT OKESA.

 630 AM       WASHINGTON    3/4 INCH HAIL ONE MILE WEST OF DEWEY.

Special weather statement, May 16, 5:15 PM CDT, 1 hour 13 minutes before

OKZ029-030-031-162315-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
514 PM CDT THU MAY 16 1991

AT 510 PM RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORM IN WESTERN
OKMULGEE COUNTY. CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THIS THUNDERSTORM TO
INTENSIFY.

PERSONS IN NORTHERN OKMULGEE COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR FURTHER INFORMATION FROM
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 5:19 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage	41 min
May 16, 6:07 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage, Washington	53 min
May 16, 8:43 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Wagoner	47 min
May 16, 9:31 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Mayes, Wagoner	44 min
May 16, 10:05 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Cherokee	40 min
May 16, 5:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Creek, Okmulgee, Tulsa	49 min
May 16, 6:05 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Okmulgee, Tulsa	40 min
May 16, 6:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Tulsa	33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 1991 Every tornado warning in 1991 Tornadoes in 1991

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.