Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Tulsa, OK

March 27, 1997Tulsa County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at Mar 27, 1997, 7:55 PM CST for Tulsa County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 35 min. 10 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 27, 1997, 7:55 PM CST (01:55 UTC)
Expired: Mar 27, 1997, 8:30 PM CST
In force: 35 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 01:57 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
Mar 27, 7:55 PM CST	Hail 0.88	Tulsa, OK
Mar 27, 7:58 PM CST	Hail 1	Tulsa, OK
Mar 27, 7:59 PM CST	Hail 0.75	Tulsa, OK
Mar 27, 8:02 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 56	Tulsa, OK
Mar 27, 8:06 PM CST	Hail 1	Tulsa, OK
Mar 27, 8:07 PM CST	Hail 1	Catoosa, OK
Mar 27, 8:08 PM CST	Hail 1.75	Catoosa, OK
Mar 27, 8:09 PM CST	Hail 1.75	Catoosa, OK
Mar 27, 8:10 PM CST	Hail 3.75	Tulsa, OK
Mar 27, 8:12 PM CST	Hail 1	Catoosa, 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, 1.9 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.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 368 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -44 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1538 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 242 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 505 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 3.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

590 
WFUS1 KTUL 280158 RRA
TORTUL
OKC143-280230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
755 PM CST THU MAR 27 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
 
   ...EASTERN TULSA COUNTY
 
AT 754 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR 101 STREET
SOUTH AND MEMORIAL DRIVE.  THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40
MPH. THE PARENT STORM MAY ALSO CONTAIN HAIL TO GOLFBALL SIZE AND WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH.
 
PERSONS IN EASTERN TULSA COUNTY ARE ADVISED TO TAKE COVER NOW
 
DURING THE STORM MOVE INDOORS AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM LIGHTNING DO NOT USE THE TELEPHONE
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.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 27, 6:16 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Creek	59 min
Mar 27, 6:51 PM CST	Tornado Warning	TSA	Creek	54 min
Mar 27, 7:10 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Tulsa	50 min
Mar 27, 7:46 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Rogers, Wagoner	44 min
Mar 27, 8:26 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Mayes	49 min
Mar 27, 8:29 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Rogers	16 min
Mar 27, 9:03 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Delaware, Mayes	42 min
Mar 27, 9:40 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Delaware	35 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.