Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 17, 1995Osage County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1995, 4:53 PM CDT for Osage County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 52 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 17, 1995, 4:53 PM CDT (21:53 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1995, 5:45 PM CDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Whole counties

County Osage County, OK

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:53 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 181 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: 436 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -399 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 918 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 406 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 401 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUL 172154
TORTUL
OKC113-172245-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
453 PM CDT WED MAY 17 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
 
   ...SOUTHERN OSAGE COUNTY
 
AT 450 PM...RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO NEAR SKEDEE IN PAWNEE
COUNTY...MOVING NORTHEAST AROUND 40 MPH. BLACKBURN AND HOMINY ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
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.
 
KEEP TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER BULLETINS.

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.

NWS Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 17, 2:56 PM CDT, 1 hour 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 17, 2:56 PM CDT, 1 hour 57 minutes before

EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
250 PM CDT WED MAY 17 1995

SATL PICS INDCT CLRG OVR A LRG PART OF SWRN OK.  XPCT TSTMS TO
DVLP AND INTNSFY RPDLY AS THERMAL GRAD TIGHTENS AND UPR SYS CONTS
TO APRCH.  SVR WX THREAT WELL DISCD IN SELS OTLK AND WL NOT
ELABORATE.  HVY RAINFALL THREAT ACRS XTRM NRN PTNS OF FA WHERE A
SFC BNDRY IS XPCTD TO LINGER TNGT.  CONSDRD AN FFA...BUT BLV RPDLY
MOVG TSTMS WL DCRS CHCS FOR FL FLDG OVRNGT.

MDLS SIMILAR IN DPCTG ACTVTY TO DMNSH FM THE WEST WITH TSTMS PRBLY
MOVG EAST OF EOK SHRTLY AFT MIDN.  MAY SEE SOME PARTIAL CLRG...BUT
CLDS SHUD WRAP BACK ARND INTO EOK BY MRNG.  WRAPARND CLDS AND COOL
AIR ADVCTN THURS SHUD KEEP TEMPS BLO NGM MOS MAXES...SPCLY IN NWRN
AR.  LT IN THE DAY SOME CLRG XPCTD FM THE WEST OR SW.  CLRG SKIES
AND DRIER AIR SHUD ALLOW MINS TO FALL INTO THE 40S OVR MUCH OF NERN
OK AND NWRN AR THURS NGT.  MSTLY SUNNY SKIES XPCTD TO RTRN FRIt.

PRELIMS
TUL 57/65/49/75 8100
FSM 60/68/51/75 7200
MLC 61/71/51/76 7100
BVO 54/63/48/74 8100
FYV 59/65/47/73 9200
IDB 62/74/52/77 6200
BYV 58/64/46/72 9200

..11..

.TUL...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 17, 12:58 PM CDT, 3 hours 55 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
1248 PM CDT WED MAY 17 1995

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1153 AM    7 W OF OKMULGEE           OK   1.75 INCH HAIL.
05/17/95   OKMULGEE

1200 PM    3 N OF OKMULGEE           OK   0.88 INCH HAIL
05/17/95   OKMULGEE

1220 PM    HASKELL                   OK   1.00 INCH HAIL
           MUSKOGEE

1230 PM    PORTER                    HOK   0.88 INCH HAIL
           WAGONER

1245 PM    WAGONER                   OK   0.88 INCH HAIL
           WAGONER

Special weather statement, May 17, 1:01 PM CDT, 3 hours 52 minutes before

ARZ001-002-010-011-019-029-OKZ054>077-181200-

EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
100 PM CDT WED MAY 17 1995

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TONIGHT
ACROSS ALL OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.

TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE
AREA THROUGH TONIGHT.

A VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS REMAINS ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.
A FEW STRONG AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAD ALREADY DEVELOPED ACROSS
NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA. AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL WEATHER SYSTEM IN NEW
MEXICO MOVES EAST...SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE
NUMEROUS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

THE INGREDIENTS ARE COMING TOGETHER FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUMEROUS
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. A SURFACE LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA THIS EVENING AS A
DRYLINE MOVES INTO CENTRAL OKLAHOMA. SCATTERED SEVERE STORMS ARE
LIKELY OVER EASTERN OKLAHOMA AFTER 300 PM AS THE NEW MEXICO WEATHER
SYSTEM APPROACHES. SEVERE STORMS WILL SPREAD INTO NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
AFTER 400 PM.

THE WIND PROFILE WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FEW
TORNADOES...MAINLY ACROSS VEASTERN OKLAHOMA BETWEEN 300 PM AND 900 PM.

MANY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCIES AND STORM SPOTTER GROUPS WILL NEED
TO BE ACTIVATED BY MID TO LATE AFTERNOON.

Local storm report, May 17, 4:33 PM CDT, 20 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
430 PM CDT WED MAY 17 1995

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1145 AM    5 SW OF OKFUSKEE          OK   0.88 INCH HAIL.
05/17/95   OKFUSKEE

 130 PM    5 NW OF COLCORD           OK   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/17/95   DELAWARE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 11:33 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Okfuskee	34 min
May 17, 11:33 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Okmulgee	42 min
May 17, 12:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Muskogee, Wagoner	48 min
May 17, 1:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Delaware	28 min
May 17, 4:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage, Pawnee	55 min
May 17, 4:40 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Pawnee	35 min
May 17, 5:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage, Washington	52 min
May 17, 5:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Tulsa, Wagoner	41 min
May 17, 5:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Nowata, Rogers	53 min
May 17, 6:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Wagoner	33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 1995 Every tornado warning in 1995 Tornadoes in 1995

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.