Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 16, 1991Rogers County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1991, 8:37 PM CDT for Rogers County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 53 min. 2 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 16, 1991, 8:37 PM CDT (01:37 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 1991, 9:30 PM CDT
In force: 53 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Whole counties

County Rogers County, OK

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 16, 8:58 PM CDT	Hail 1	Rogers, OK
May 16, 9:25 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Rogers, 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, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 171 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: 2446 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 920 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 118 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 165 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.4
Supercell composite: 6.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUL 170137
TORTUL
OKC131-170230-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
837 PM CDT THU MAY 16 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ...
 
IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
 
   ...ROGERS COUNTY
 
AT 836 PM SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO 2 MILES NORTHEAST OF CATOOSA
MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS IN TIAWAH AND
CLAREMORE ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE.
OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.
STAY AWAY FROM OUTSIDE WALLS AND AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND
MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET IN A GROUND DEPRESSION.

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 16, 5:15 PM CDT, 3 hours 22 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, 7:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Rogers, Wagoner	57 min
May 16, 7:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Creek	30 min
May 16, 7:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Tulsa	42 min
May 16, 7:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Tulsa	33 min
May 16, 7:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Rogers, Wagoner	62 min
May 16, 8:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Tulsa	50 min
May 16, 9:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Mayes, Rogers	49 min
May 16, 10:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Craig, Mayes	44 min
May 16, 11:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Delaware	66 min
May 16, 11:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Ottawa	51 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.