Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 31, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 26, 1997Latimer County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 26, 1997, 9:57 PM CDT for Latimer County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 63 min. 3 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, 9:57 PM CDT (02:57 UTC)
Expired: May 26, 1997, 11:00 PM CDT
In force: 63 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Whole counties

County Latimer County, OK

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
May 26, 10:00 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Wilburton, OK
May 26, 10:00 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Wilburton, OK
May 26, 10:00 PM CDT	Hail 0.88	Wilburton, 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 26, 6:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr
May 26, 8:45 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 199 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: 3123 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1331 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 271 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.3
Supercell composite: 14.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

385 
WFUS1 KTUL 270300 RRA
TORTUL
OKC077-270400-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
957 PM CDT MON MAY 26 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA
 
   ...LATIMER COUNTY
 
AT 956 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO IN NORTHWESTERN LATIMER
COUNTY APROXIMATELY 8 MILES NORTHWEST OF WILBURTON. THIS STORM
WILL PASS JUST NORTH OF WILBURTON AND MAY PASS THROUGH RED OAK BY
1030 PM.
 
 
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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at May 26, 9:09 PM CDT, 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 26, 9:09 PM CDT, 48 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.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 26, 4:15 PM CDT, 5 hours 42 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
415 PM CDT MON MAY 26 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0750 PM    TULSA                     OK   FLOODING
05/26/97   TULSA                          WATER FROM LITTLE HAIKEY
                                          CREEK FLOWING OVER 91ST
                                          BETWEEN MINGO AND
                                          MEMORIAL.

0945 PM    MIAMI                     OK   FLOODING
05/26/97   OTTAWA                         STREET FLOODING REPORTED
                                          BY MIAMI PD.

0945 PM    FAIRLAND                  OK   WIND DAMAGE
05/26/97   OTTAWA                         OUTBUILDINGS DAMAGED.
                                          TREES AND POWER LINES
                                          DOWN.

1000 PM    WILBURTON                 OK   WIND DAMAGE
05/26/97   LATIMER                        TREES DOWN JUST WEST OF
                                          WILBURTON

1000 PM    WILBURTON                 OK   .88 INCH HAIL
05/26/97   LATIMER

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, 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, 10:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Sequoyah	53 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

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.