Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 491, NWS Norman, OK
NWS Norman, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 8, 1997, 6:15 PM CDT for Canadian County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 45 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
- Oct 8, 1997, 6:15 PM CDT (23:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 8, 1997, 7:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 45 min
- Issued by
- NWS Norman, OK
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
County Canadian County, OK
The radar
The Norman radar (KTLX), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:14 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 6:40 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Piedmont, OK | |
| Oct 8, 6:52 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 59 | Piedmont, 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 5:45 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 64 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
- 424 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 527 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 229 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 218 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.9
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Oct 8, 3:41 PM CDT, 2 hours 34 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 8, 3:41 PM CDT, 2 hours 34 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 340 PM CDT WED OCT 8 1997 A RATHER IMPRESSIVE DRY LINE IS MOVING ACROSS NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA AS SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FORM JUST AHEAD OF IT. EXPECT THE AREA BEHIND THE DRY LINE TO HAVE GENERALLY CLEAR SKIES THIS EVENING...WHILE THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST AREA DEALS WITH THE STORMS. A COLD FRONT WILL CROSS THE AREA TONIGHT AND SHOULD STALL NEAR THE RED RIVER TOMORROW...THEN BEGIN TO DRIFT BACK NORTH. RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE NEAR THE FRONT ONCE IT MERGES WITH THE DRY LINE. SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE TONIGHT...MAINLY IN NORTH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA...BUT MOST OF THE UPPER SUPPORT WILL BE FARTHER NORTH. WILL PROBABLY REFRAIN FROM MENTIONING SEVERE IN THE ZONE FORECAST UNLESS THERE IS ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING OF STORMS IN THE NEXT HALF HOUR. AM KIND OF GOING OUT ON A LIMB WITH THE FORECAST FOR TOMORROW AND TOMORROW NIGHT. IT APPEARS THAT THE FRONT WILL BE FAR ENOUGH SOUTH TO ALLOW MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES ACROSS THE NORTHERN PART OF THE FORECAST AREA...BUT THIS MAY BE TOO OPTIMISTIC. IN THE EXTENDED FORECAST...A RATHER SIMILAR SCENARIO TO TODAY OCCURS AGAIN ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. THE MRF SHOWS A VERY TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA ON SATURDAY...SO WILL MENTION WINDY CONDITIONS IN THE CORRESPONDING FORECAST. MONDAY LOOKS LIKE IT SHOULD BE RAIN FREE...BUT COOLER. FCSTID = 23 = CMS OKC 58 80 60 80 / 40 10 10 10 HBR 55 83 58 82 / 20 10 10 10 SPS 60 84 62 84 / 40 30 20 20 GAG 46 82 55 82 / 0 0 10 10 PNC 55 79 60 80 / 60 0 0 10 DUA 67 80 65 84 / 50 30 20 30 .OKC... OK...NONE. TX...NONE. CMS
In the hours before
Local storm report, Oct 8, 5:39 PM CDT, 36 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OKLAHOMA
540 PM CDT WED OCT 08 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1735 PM 5 N A.LFALFA OK 1 INCH HAIL
10/08/97 CADDO
JSLocal storm report, Oct 8, 5:40 PM CDT, 35 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OKLAHOMA
540 PM CDT WED OCT 08 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1735 PM 5 N ALFALFA OK 1 INCH HAIL
10/08/97 CADDO
JSThe office that day
Everything else NWS Norman, OK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 5:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Canadian | 45 min |
| Oct 8, 5:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Caddo | 45 min |
| Oct 8, 5:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Jefferson, Stephens | 51 min |
| Oct 8, 6:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Jefferson, Stephens | 47 min |
| Oct 8, 6:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Logan | 45 min |
| Oct 8, 6:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Kay, Noble | 41 min |
| Oct 8, 6:50 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OUN | Logan | 40 min |
| Oct 8, 6:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Canadian, Oklahoma | 66 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Oklahoma, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997
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.