Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 52, NWS Tulsa, OK

November 16, 1996Nowata County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at Nov 16, 1996, 4:56 PM CST for Nowata County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 34 min. 1 report 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
Nov 16, 1996, 4:56 PM CST (22:56 UTC)
Expired
Nov 16, 1996, 5:30 PM CST
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

County Nowata County, OK

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 70 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:59 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Nov 16, 5:10 PM CSTHail 0.75Lenapah, 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 162 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 1996-11-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 1996-11-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 349 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
549 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
349 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
360 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 162259 RRA
TORTUL
OKC105-162330-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
456 PM CST SAT NOV 16 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
 
   ...NOWATA COUNTY
 
AT 456 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 2 MILES NORTH
OF NOWATA. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THE TOWN OF
CHILDERS IS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 16, 4:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSANowata47 min
Nov 16, 4:36 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningTSANowata, Osage, Washington3 hr
Nov 16, 5:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek, Tulsa49 min
Nov 16, 5:57 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningTSACraig, Rogers, Tulsa3 hr
Nov 16, 5:57 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningTSACreek3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.