Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 39, NWS Norman, OK

May 26, 1997Hughes County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at May 26, 1997, 7:52 PM CDT for Hughes County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 23 min. 2 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 26, 1997, 7:52 PM CDT (00:52 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 1997, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
23 min
Issued by
NWS Norman, OK
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Hughes County, OK

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:51 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 26, 8:00 PM CDTTornado F0Dustin, OKTornado touched down briefly. No damage was reported.
May 26, 8:00 PM CDTThunderstorm WindDustin, OKSevere thunderstorm winds destroyed a barn and feed silo and lifted a mobile home from its foundation, causing extensive damage. A dog pen was also lifted and blown onto a dog, killing the animal. A large tree was uprooted at this same location.

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 26, 6:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 125 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3123 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 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
3123 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1331 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
271 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
14.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

630 
WFUS1 KOKC 270056 RRA
TOROKC
OKC063-270115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
752 PM CDT MON MAY 26 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A TORNADO
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES

IN SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA
     NORTHEASTERN HUGHES

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     DUSTIN

AT 748 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 2
MILES SOUTH OF DUSTIN.

THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES THAT A TORNADO
MAY FORM AT ANY TIME -- 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 3518  9597 3518  9607 3529  9612 3529  9599
WR

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 26, 8:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNPontotoc42 min
May 26, 8:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNJohnston49 min
May 26, 8:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCoal, Hughes51 min
May 26, 8:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCarter, Love, Marshall49 min
May 26, 9:00 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNJohnston, Marshall30 min
May 26, 9:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNAtoka, Bryan, Johnston41 min
May 26, 9:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCoal, Hughes44 min
May 26, 9:18 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNMarshall27 min
May 26, 9:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBryan39 min
May 26, 9:39 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNBryan, Marshall36 min
May 26, 9:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNAtoka, Johnston41 min
May 26, 10:08 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningOUNJohnston, Marshall3 hr
May 26, 10:13 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNBryan, Marshall47 min
May 26, 10:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNPushmataha49 min
May 26, 10:40 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNMarshall35 min
May 26, 10:45 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNPushmataha45 min
May 26, 11:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNChoctaw, Pushmataha52 min
May 27, 12:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNChoctaw, Pushmataha59 min
May 27, 1:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNChoctaw30 min
May 27, 1:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNChoctaw30 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.