Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 60, NWS Tulsa, OK

March 29, 1997Creek County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 29, 1997, 8:50 PM CST for Creek County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 55 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
Mar 29, 1997, 8:50 PM CST (02:50 UTC)
Expired
Mar 29, 1997, 9:45 PM CST
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

County Creek County, OK

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:49 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
Mar 29, 9:30 PM CSTHail 1Bristow, OK
Mar 29, 9:30 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 61Bristow, 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 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 120 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 1997-03-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 132 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 1997-03-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
132 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-180 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2545 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
291 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

784 
WUUS1 KTUL 300250 RRA
SVRTUL
OKC037-300345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
850 PM CST SAT MAR 29 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
 
   ...CREEK COUNTY
 
AT 850 PM...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR CENTRAL LINCOLN
COUNTY MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. THIS STORM WILL MOVE INTO CREEK COUNTY
AFTER 900 PM. SHAMROCK...DEPEW AND BRISTOW ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS
STORM.
 
HAIL TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS 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 Mar 29, 3:31 PM CST, 5 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 29, 3:31 PM CST, 5 hours 19 minutes before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
325 PM CST FRI MAR 28 1997

A SIGN CHANGE IN THE WEATHER IS EXPECTED FROM WHAT WE HAD TODAY. AN
UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL PASS THROUGH THE CENTRAL AND SRN PLAINS
BRINGING A COLD FRONT THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT. A SFC LOW CURRENTLY
OVER THE NE TX PANHANDLE WILL SLIDE SE INTO NRN TX TONIGHT. SFC DPS
HAVE RISEN DRAMATICALLY AHEAD OF THE LOW WITH READINGS IN THE MID
60S APPROACHING DFW. EVEN THOUGH SVR WX THREAT SHOULD REMAIN MOSTLY
S OF THE AREA...THERE COULD BE SOME STRONG STORMS IN SE OK/WC
OK...WILL HAVE TO WATCH THIS CLOSELY! INCREASING MOISTURE HAS ALSO
INCREASED THE CHANCE OF RAIN ALONG AND BEHIND THE FRONT IN AREA OF
ISENTROPIC LIFT OVER THE AREA. 15Z MESOETA PRECIP FCST SHOWS THE
ENTIRE AREA RECEIVING AT LEAST A TENTH BETWEEN 03Z AND 12Z WITH
CLOSE TO 0.5" IN SE OK. WILL INCREASE POPS A LITTLE MORE ON THIS
PKG FOR TONIGHT.

AFTER FROPA...WINDS WILL PICK UP ESP WEST OF TUL AND MLC. SHOULD
NOT BE OVER ADVISORY CRITERIA THOUGH. BY EASTER MORNING WINDS WILL
HAVE ALREADY DECREASED OVER NE OK TO AROUND 10 MPH WITH 10-20
ELSEWHERE. SKIES SHOULD BE CLEAR WITH CLOUDS DECREASING OVER SE
ZONES. H8 TEMPS FAIRLY COOL BEHIND FRONT. USING ETA GRIDDED DATA...
HIGH TEMPS SHOULD ONLY BE IN THE UPPER 50S TO LOWER 60S. HAVE
LEANED MAX TEMPS TOWARD COOLER FAN AND ETA. WITH CLEAR SKIES AND
LIGHT WINDS SUN NIGHT HAVE GONE BELOW GUIDANCE AS MODELS USUALLY
ARE MUCH TOO WARM. AVN KEEPS FAIRLY COOL H8 TEMPS IN PLACE ON MON
CONTRARY TO THE TREND THE LAST FEW WEEKS WITH THE RAPID WARMUPS. AM
HESITANT TO GO AS COOL AS AVN SO COMPROMISED WITH MUCH WARMER FWC.

EXTENDED MODELS DISAGREE ON EVOLUTION OF UPPER TROUGH DEVELOPING
OVER THE WRN US.  MAY HAVE A CHANCE OF STORMS ON TUE AS S/W EJECTS
OUT OF TROUGH INTO CENTRAL PLAINS AS MRF SUGGESTS. USUALLY
UNRELIABLE UKMET BRINGS STG S/W INTO STN PLAINS ON THU. ECMWF
OUTPUT FROM 12Z WONT BE AVAILABLE UNTIL 7PM TONIGHT. YESTERDAYS RUN
KEPT SYS TO THE WEST UNTIL THU ALSO. WITH FRONT NEARBY AND DOUBT
ABOUT MODEL FCSTS...WILL KEEP CHC IN FOR MOST OF MIDWEEK. /26

TUL 042/061 036/067 046 3000
FSM 047/065 033/069 039 6000
MLC 045/064 035/070 043 60:00
BVO 038/060 037/068 047 2000
FYV 040/060 030/066 040 4000
IDB 049/066 036/070 042 7100
BYV 038/059 030/065 038 4000

.TUL...
OK...NONE.
AR...NONE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 29, 9:26 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOkfuskee49 min
Mar 29, 9:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOkmulgee45 min
Mar 29, 9:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMcIntosh, Muskogee56 min
Mar 29, 10:12 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOkfuskee33 min
Mar 29, 10:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMcIntosh, Pittsburg63 min
Mar 29, 11:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAHaskell, Sequoyah65 min
Mar 29, 11:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAAdair65 min
Mar 29, 11:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALatimer, LeFlore55 min
Mar 30, 12:09 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore36 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.