Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 285, NWS Tulsa, OK
NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 20, 1997, 5:50 PM CDT for Tulsa County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 25 min. 7 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
- Jul 20, 1997, 5:50 PM CDT (22:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 20, 1997, 6:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 25 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tulsa, OK
- Area
- Whole counties
County Tulsa County, OK
The radar
The Tulsa radar (KINX), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:54 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 5:50 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Broken Arrow, OK | |
| Jul 20, 5:55 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Broken Arrow, OK | |
| Jul 20, 5:55 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Broken Arrow, OK | |
| Jul 20, 6:05 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Tulsa, OK | |
| Jul 20, 6:15 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Broken Arrow, OK | |
| Jul 20, 6:19 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Tulsa, OK | |
| Jul 20, 6:25 PM CDT | Hail 1.25 | Tulsa, 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
Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 166 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
- 1861 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -59 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1021 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 12 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -12 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 23 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTUL 202249 RRA SVRTUL OKC143-202315- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 550 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 615 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA ...SOUTHERN TULSA COUNTY AT 550 PM...RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER BROKEN ARROW. THE STORM WAS NEARLY STATIONARY AND WILL REMAIN IN THE BROKEN ARROW AREA. HAIL TO THE SIZE OF NICKLES AND WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE WARNED AREA. DURING THE STORM MOVE INDOORS AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM LIGHTNING DO NOT USE THE ZTELEPHONE OR HAND HELD ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES...UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR WATER ON ROADWAYS AND NEVER DRIVE ONTO A FLOODED ROAD. KEEP TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER BULLETINS.
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 Jul 20, 5:40 PM CDT, 10 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 20, 5:40 PM CDT, 10 minutes before
FPUS3 KTUL 202240 AFDTUL EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 540 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 1997 UPDATED ZNS TO ADD MENTION OF SCT TSRA...MAINLY ALONG WK SFC CONVERGENCE AREA IN TULSA AREA. /13 .TUL... OK...NONE. AR...NONE.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 20, 1:00 PM CDT, 4 hours 50 minutes before
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-029-OKZ054>076-211200- EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 100 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 1997 NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT. SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS AND THE MORNING WEATHER BALLOON DATA CONTINUE TO INDICATE A MINIMAL THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. MOST OF ANY SIGNIFICANT UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT WAS IN THE FORM OF A WEAK DISTURBANCE ACROSS CENTRAL KANSAS. AT THE SURFACE...OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM MORNING THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN KANSAS HAVE MOVED SOUTHEASTWARD INTO EASTERN OKLAHOMA. AS AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES RISE INTO THE LOWER 90S...WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM ACROSS THE REGION. ALTHOUGH THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS...THE LINGERING OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES COULD FOCUS A FEW ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WHICH MAY BRIEFLY PRODUCE SMALL HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAINS...AND GUSTY DOWNBURST WINDS. THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DIMINISH WITH THE LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING AROUND SUNSET. WITH THE LACK OF SIGNIFICANT UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT AND LITTLE FOCUS EXPECTED AT THE SURFACE...MOST OF ANY THUNDERSTORMS LATE TONIGHT AND INTO EARLY MONDAY SHOULD REMAIN NORTH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 6:08 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TSA | Tulsa | 2 hr |
| Jul 20, 6:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Tulsa | 31 min |
| Jul 20, 6:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Osage | 43 min |
| Jul 20, 6:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Tulsa | 51 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.