Alert archive / Oklahoma / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996
Flash Flood Warning 47, NWS Tulsa, OK
NWS Tulsa, OK issued this flash flood warning at Nov 16, 1996, 5:57 PM CST for Creek County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 16, 1996, 5:57 PM CST (23:57 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 16, 1996, 9:00 PM CST
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Tulsa, OK
- Area
- Whole counties
County Creek County, OK
The radar
The Tulsa radar (KINX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:58 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, 12.0 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 79 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -29 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 559 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 216 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 262 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTUL 170000 FFWTUL OKC035-037-131-143-170300- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 557 PM CST SAT NOV 16 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA ...CRAIG COUNTY...CREEK COUNTY...ROGERS COUNTY...TULSA COUNTY AT 555 PM RADAR SHOWED A BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR WELCH TO OOLOGAH TO BRISTOW. VERY HEAVY RAINS WITH RAINFALL RATES UP TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR ARE POSSIBLE. 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN HAVE ALREADY FALLEN AND ADDTIONAL THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING OVER THESE AREAS MUCH OF THE EVENING AND MAY PRODUCE AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN. A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS LIKELY OR HAS BEEN REPORTED. STAY ALERT AND WATCH FOR RAPIDLY RISING WATER. REMEMBER...IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO THE NEAREST STREAM...CREEK OR RIVER WHICH CAN BECOME A KILLER DURING PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 flash flood warning went out at Nov 16, 3:08 PM CST, 2 hours 49 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Nov 16, 3:08 PM CST, 2 hours 49 minutes before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 300 PM CST SAT NOV 16 1996 LINE OF TSRA APPROACHING NW ZONES ATTM ALONG OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM THIS MORNINGS STORMS IN WRN OK/KS. HAVE HAD A FEW SVR REPORTS ALONG THIS LINE...BUT MORE WIDESPREAD THREAT APPEARS TO BE HEAVY RAINFALL AND POSSIBLE FLASH FLOODING. WILL BE ISSUING FFA FOR TONIGHT FOR ALL EXCEPT ZONE 77 AS NEW GRIDDED DATA SHOWING THE BEST VERTICAL MOTION AND HIGHEST QPF ALONG THE NRN COUNTIES. EXPECT WIDESPREAD 1- 2 INCH AMOUNS WITH LOCAL AMOUNTS UP TO 4 INCHES. 12Z PCGRIDDS96 DATA CONTINUES TO SHOW EXTREMELY HIGH HELICITY VALUES FROM 00-06Z TONIGHT WITH CAPE VALUES FCST TO BE 100-500 J/KG. THESE CAPES SEEMS LOW COMPARED WITH CURRENT OBSERVED LI/CAPE VALUES AND OBSERVED SVR REPORTS TO OUR WEST. WILL KEEP MENTION OF SVR POSS IN ALL ZONES. MOS TEMPS LOOK GOOD WITH SOME DISAGREEMENT IN FIRST COUPLE PERIODS. LEANED TO WARMER TEMPS IN THE EAST WITH COOLER READINGS WEST TONIGHT. AFTER TONIGHT...RAPID CLEARING SHOULD TAKE PLACE WITH POSS SOME LINGERING STRATIFORM PRECIP IN ZONE 77 SUN MORNING. NO MAJOR WEATHER PROBLEMS EXPECTED DURING THE REST OF THE FCST AS GULF WILL BE CUT OFF TOO LONG FOR ANY MOISTURE TO RETURN. EXTENDED MODELS SHOW UPPER FLOW PATTERN WILL REMAIN NEARLY ZONAL WITH SWLY FLOW OVER WRN CANADA HELPING TO KEEP THE ULTRA COLD AIRMASS IN PLACE RATHER THAN SLIDING SOUTH DOWN THE CENTRAL US PLAINS. /26 TUL BA 040/053 038/068 049 26+000 FSM BA 046/056 035/067 040 26+-00 MLC BA 044/055 036/070 045 26+000 BVO BA 038/053 038/068 048 26+000 FYV BA 042/051 030/065 038 26+-00 IDB EA 051/055 031/068 039 268200 BYV BA 042/050 029/064 037 26+-00 .TUL...R OK...FLASH FLOOD WATCH ZONES 54>76. AR...FLASH FLOOD WATCH ALL ZONES (1/2/10/11/19/29).
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Nov 16, 12:45 PM CST, 5 hours 12 minutes before
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-029-OKZ054>076-171200- EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 1245 PM CST SAT NOV 16 1996 A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TONIGHT. THE MAIN THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER OVER EASTERN OKLAHOMA WILL BE MAINLY BETWEEN 2PM AND 8PM...WITH THE THREAT OVER NORTHWEST ARKANSAS MAINLY BETWEEN 6PM AND MIDNIGHT. EARLY THIS AFTERNOON A STRONG COLD FRONT EXTENDED FROM A LOW PRESSURE CENTER NEAR GAGE OKLAHOMA ACROSS KANSAS INTO SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA. A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE THAT WAS MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST TEXAS WILL QUICKLY MOVE NORTHEAST ACROSS OKLAHOMA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. AS THE STRONG UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM MOVES NORTHEAST INTO THE PLAINS..THE COLD FRONT WILL BEGIN MOVING SOUTHEASTWARD INTO OKLAHOMA. WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALREADY OCCURRING FROM SOUTHCENTRAL KANSAS INTO WESTERN AND CENTRAL OKLAHOMA WILL SPREAD EASTWARD INTO NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA BY MID AFTERNOON. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG A DRYLINE IN SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA AND WEST TEXAS BY MID AFTERNOON AND THESE WILL ALSO RACE QUICKLY TO THE NORTHEAST AND MAY AFFECT SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND LATER...WESTERN ARKANSAS. THE INSTABILITY ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN SOMEWHAT LIMITED THIS AFTERNOON AS CLOUDY SKIES KEEP TEMPERATURES FROM WARMING OUT OF THE MID 60S TO LOWER 70S. HOWEVER...AS THE UPPER SYSTEM MOVES OVERHEAD...COLD AIR ALOFT WILL PROVIDE MODERATE INSTABLILTY AND GIVEN THE STRENGTH OF THE WIND FIELDS...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP. THE UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM AND COLD FRONT ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE EAST OF THE AREA SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT ENDING THE THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THE MAIN THREAT WITH ANY STORMS THAT BECOME SEVERE WILL BE STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AS THE STORMS RACE NORTHEASTWARD...HOWEVER STRONG WINDS IN THE MID-LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND THE EXPECTED VERTICAL WIND PROFILE OVER THE AREA WILL ALSO PROVIDE THE POTENTIAL FOR A FEW TORNADOES TO DEVELOP. IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER...THERE IS ALSO THE POTENTIAL FOR VERY HEAVY RAIN THROUGH TONIGHT. ALTHOUGH STORMS WILL BE MOVING QUICKLY TO THE NORTHEAST...SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS WILL BE POSSIBLE WHERE STORMS REPEATEDLY MOVE ACROSS THE SAME AREAS. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCIES AND STORM SPOTTERS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION. THIS IS A SPECIAL ISSUANCE OF THE EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK. THESE OUTLOOKS ARE ISSUED DAILY FROM MID MARCH TO MID JUNE AND AS NEEDED AT OTHER TIMES OF THE YEAR.
Local storm report, Nov 16, 5:51 PM CST, 6 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
551 PM CST SAT NOV 16 1996
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0510 PM 5 S LENAPAH OK .75 INCH HAIL
11/16/96 NOWATALocal storm report, Nov 16, 5:52 PM CST, 5 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
551 PM CST SAT NOV 16 1996
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0510 PM 5 S LENAPAH OK .75 INCH HAIL
11/16/96 NOWATAThe office that day
Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 16, 4:28 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Nowata | 47 min |
| Nov 16, 4:36 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | TSA | Nowata, Osage, Washington | 3 hr |
| Nov 16, 4:56 PM CST | Tornado Warning | TSA | Nowata | 34 min |
| Nov 16, 5:41 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Creek, Tulsa | 49 min |
| Nov 16, 5:57 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | TSA | Craig, Rogers, Tulsa | 3 hr |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Oklahoma, 1996Every flash flood warning in 1996
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.