Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Norman, OK

May 25, 1997Grady County, McClain County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1997, 4:03 PM CDT for Grady County, McClain County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 42 min. 6 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 25, 1997, 4:03 PM CDT (21:03 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1997, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Norman, OK
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Grady County, OK, McClain County, OK

The radar

The Norman radar (KTLX), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:03 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
May 25, 4:12 PM CDTHail 1Middleberg, OK
May 25, 4:14 PM CDTTornado F1Tabler, OKThis description, with very minimal editing, was taken from a damage survey conducted by a National Weather Service meteorologist on Monday May 26th (Memorial Day), the day after the tornado occurred.This tornado, rated F1, began 3 miles northeast of Tabler at
May 25, 4:15 PM CDTHail 2.5Middleberg, OK
May 25, 4:17 PM CDTThunderstorm WindTabler, OKThe roof was blown off a mobile home by severe thunderstorm winds.
May 25, 4:20 PM CDTHail 1.75Blanchard, OK
May 25, 4:25 PM CDTHail 1Blanchard, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 25, 3:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 22 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, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 1997-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 491 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 1997-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 115 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
491 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
928 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

621 
WFUS1 KOKC 252106 RRA
TOROKC
OKC051-087-252145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
403 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A TORNADO
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 445 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES

IN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
     EASTERN GRADY AND WESTERN MCCLAIN

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     BLANCHARD

AT 403 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 7
MILES WEST OF BLANCHARD MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. PERSONS LIVING NEAR
BLANCHARD AND AREAS WEST OF BLANCHARD TAKE COVER NOW

DOPPLER RADAR ALSO INDICATES THIS STORM MAY PRODUCE DESTRUCTIVE
HAIL TO THE SIZE OF BASEBALLS...OR LARGER.

TAKE COVER NOW.  ABANDON MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES.  MOVE TO
SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF POSSIBLE.  OTHERWISE...MOVE TO AN
INTERIOR ROOM OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  STAY AWAY FROM
WINDOWS.


LAT...LON 3507  9739 3503  9781 3516  9784 3525  9758
DA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 8:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBeckham47 min
May 24, 9:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBeckham, Roger Mills40 min
May 24, 9:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNDewey, Roger Mills49 min
May 24, 10:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCuster, Dewey46 min
May 24, 11:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBlaine, Custer45 min
May 24, 11:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBlaine, Custer45 min
May 24, 11:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBeckham, Washita51 min
May 25, 1:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCanadian, Grady46 min
May 25, 2:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCleveland, McClain39 min
May 25, 4:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGarvin, Grady, McClain45 min
May 25, 7:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCoal, Hughes, Pontotoc35 min
May 25, 8:42 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNAtoka, Pushmataha48 min
May 25, 3:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGrady52 min
May 25, 4:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCleveland, McClain60 min
May 25, 4:40 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNCleveland, McClain65 min
May 25, 4:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCaddo, Comanche46 min
May 25, 5:03 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNCaddo, Comanche42 min
May 25, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCotton, Garvin, Stephens60 min
May 25, 5:37 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNCleveland, McClain, Pottawatomie53 min
May 25, 5:40 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNGrady35 min
May 25, 6:04 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNStephens41 min
May 25, 6:07 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNGarvin68 min
May 25, 6:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGrady30 min
May 25, 6:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNMcClain, Pontotoc59 min
May 25, 6:41 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNMurray34 min
May 25, 6:45 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNStephens45 min
May 25, 6:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGrady24 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.