Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 26, 1997Osage County, Tulsa County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 26, 1997, 6:57 PM CDT for Osage County, Tulsa County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 48 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
May 26, 1997, 6:57 PM CDT (23:57 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 1997, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

Counties Osage County, OK, Tulsa County, OK

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:56 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, 7:00 PM CDTHail 0.75Tulsa, OK
May 26, 7:05 PM CDTThunderstorm WindGrainola, OK
May 26, 7:07 PM CDTHail 1.75Glenpool, OK
May 26, 7:08 PM CDTHail 1Tulsa, OK
May 26, 7:15 PM CDTTornado F0Glenpool, OK
May 26, 7:25 PM CDTThunderstorm WindBixby, OK
May 26, 7:30 PM CDTHail 2Glenpool, 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 26, 6:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lamont, OK (KLMN), launched 12:00Z, 12.0 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, Lamont, OK at 12:00Z on 1997-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 270 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, Lamont, OK at 12:00Z on 1997-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 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
270 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-356 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1270 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

283 
WFUS1 KTUL 262359 RRA
TORTUL
OKC113-143-270045-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
657 PM CDT MON MAY 26 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
 
   ...EASTERN OSAGE COUNTY...NORTHERN TULSA COUNTY
 
AT 656 PM A POSSIBLE DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS LOCATED 2 MILES
EAST OF SANDS SPRINGS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN
HOUR.  THIS STORM WAS MOVING TOWARD OWASSO.
 
VERY LARGE HAIL CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE.
OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.
STAY AWAY FROM OUTSIDE WALLS AND AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND
MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET IN A GROUND DEPRESSION.
 
KEEP TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER BULLETINS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 10:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOsage61 min
May 25, 10:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOsage52 min
May 25, 10:40 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAOsage35 min
May 25, 11:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSANowata31 min
May 26, 12:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACraig, Ottawa43 min
May 26, 5:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek, Osage, Pawnee, Tulsa51 min
May 26, 5:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek, Osage, Pawnee, Tulsa51 min
May 26, 6:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek43 min
May 26, 6:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOkmulgee, Tulsa40 min
May 26, 6:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOkfuskee51 min
May 26, 6:32 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAOkfuskee28 min
May 26, 6:34 PM CDTTornado WarningTSACreek, Tulsa41 min
May 26, 6:43 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAOsage47 min
May 26, 6:47 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAOkmulgee43 min
May 26, 6:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSANowata, Washington53 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.