Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 149, NWS Tulsa, OK
NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 26, 1997, 10:37 PM CDT for Sequoyah County, Oklahoma; Crawford County, Arkansas. It was in force for 53 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
- May 26, 1997, 10:37 PM CDT (03:37 UTC)
- Expired
- May 26, 1997, 11:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 53 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tulsa, OK
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Crawford County, AR, Sequoyah County, OK
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 10:40 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Nicut, OK | Severe thunderstorms moved across eastern Oklahoma during the late afternoon and evening of May 26th. The storms spawned 13 tornadoes and also produced damaging winds and large hail.The first tornado touched down briefly at 1730CST 1 mile east southeast of Sap |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 6:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
| May 26, 9:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 164 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
- 2590 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -7 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1226 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 86 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 288 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.1
- Supercell composite
- 17.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
571 WUUS1 KTUL 270339 RRA SVRTUL ARC033-143-OKC135-270430- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 1037 PM CDT MON MAY 26 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1130 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS ...CRAWFORD COUNTY...WASHINGTON COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA ...EASTERN SEQUOYAH COUNTY AT 1035 PM...RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR FAYETTEVILLE...TO 5 MILES NORTH OF MULDROW. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR. THESE STORMS WILL PASS CLOSE TO FAYETTEVILLE...WEST FORK... MOUNTAINBURG...SHORT...AND NATURAL DAM. A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER... SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. HAIL TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS AND WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE WARNED AREA.
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 Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 26, 9:09 PM CDT, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 26, 9:09 PM CDT, 1 hour 28 minutes before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 905 PM CDT MON MAY 26 1997 RATHER ACTIVE WX ACRS FA TNGT AND LOOKS LIKE IT WL CONT FOR A WHILE BFR HEADING FURTHER E. CRNTLY APRS WK SFC LO LOCATED OVR SRN OSAGE CNTY W/BNDRY XTNDG SSW FM THERE. PROFILERS SHOW H85 LO BACK IN NW OK. TSRA HV MVD EWD OFF OF BNDRY BUT THERE HAS BEEN SOME REDEVELOPMENT BEHIND INIT STRMS ACRS NE OK. OBVIOUSLY SVR WX AND HVY RAINFALL REMAIN A THREAT. SO WL LVL ZFP AS IS FOR NOW. AS MCS CONTS EWD WL PROB UPDATE LATER AND ADJ POPS/FFA. 07 .TUL... OK...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TNGT ZONES 54>76. AR...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TNGT ZONES 1/2/10/11/19/29.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 7:03 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Okmulgee | 27 min |
| May 26, 7:15 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Tulsa | 45 min |
| May 26, 7:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Okfuskee, Okmulgee | 42 min |
| May 26, 7:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Osage | 55 min |
| May 26, 7:29 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TSA | Tulsa | 3 hr |
| May 26, 7:31 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Okmulgee | 59 min |
| May 26, 7:36 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Wagoner | 54 min |
| May 26, 7:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Osage, Washington | 52 min |
| May 26, 7:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Nowata | 52 min |
| May 26, 7:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Muskogee | 43 min |
| May 26, 7:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | McIntosh | 56 min |
| May 26, 7:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | McIntosh | 48 min |
| May 26, 8:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Nowata | 51 min |
| May 26, 8:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Craig | 45 min |
| May 26, 8:21 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Muskogee | 54 min |
| May 26, 8:23 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Pittsburg | 52 min |
| May 26, 8:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Cherokee, Wagoner | 40 min |
| May 26, 8:38 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Ottawa | 52 min |
| May 26, 8:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | McIntosh | 28 min |
| May 26, 8:55 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Craig | 50 min |
| May 26, 9:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Ottawa | 55 min |
| May 26, 9:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Adair, Cherokee, Delaware | 66 min |
| May 26, 9:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Sequoyah | 66 min |
| May 26, 9:15 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Haskell, Pittsburg | 60 min |
| May 26, 9:22 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TSA | Ottawa | 2 hr |
| May 26, 9:31 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Latimer, Pittsburg | 59 min |
| May 26, 9:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Latimer | 63 min |
| May 26, 10:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | LeFlore | 49 min |
| May 26, 10:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Pittsburg | 29 min |
| May 26, 11:15 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | LeFlore | 30 min |
| May 26, 11:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | LeFlore | 36 min |
| May 26, 9:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Crawford, Washington | 60 min |
| May 26, 10:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Washington | 53 min |
| May 26, 10:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Carroll, Madison | 59 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Oklahoma, 1997Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 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.