Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Tulsa, OK

June 16, 1997McIntosh County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at Jun 16, 1997, 5:37 PM CDT for McIntosh County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 53 min. 8 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
Jun 16, 1997, 5:37 PM CDT (22:37 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1997, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
53 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

County McIntosh County, OK

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:36 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
Jun 16, 5:45 PM CDTHail 1.75Stidham, OK
Jun 16, 6:10 PM CDTTornado F0Eufaula, OK
Jun 16, 6:12 PM CDTHail 1Eufaula, OK
Jun 16, 6:15 PM CDTHail 5.5Eufaula, OK
Jun 16, 6:15 PM CDTHail 4.5Eufaula, OK
Jun 16, 6:18 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 61Eufaula, OK
Jun 16, 6:21 PM CDTHail 1.75Onapa, OK
Jun 16, 6:25 PM CDTHail 1.75Eufaula, 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
Jun 16, 4:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 158 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 12:00Z on 1997-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2808 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 12:00Z on 1997-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 48 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
2808 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
554 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUL 162239 RRA
TORTUL
OKC091-162330-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
537 PM CDT MON JUN 16 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
 
   ...MCINTOSH COUNTY
 
AT 535 PM...NWS DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTH
OF HITCHITA. A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS JUST REPORTED WITH THIS STORM.
 
ANOTHER POSSIBLE TORNADO HAS BEEN DETECTED BY RADAR 5 MILES SOUTH OF
HENRYETTA.
 
WATCH FOR SIGNS OF DEVELOPING STORMS.  LARGE HAILSTONES AND UNUSUALLY
LOW SWIRLING CLOUDS ARE MANY TIMES SEEN NEAR DEVELOPING TORNADOES.
STRONG DAMAGING *WINDS AND TORNADOES OFTEN PRODUCE A LOUD ROARING
SOUND THAT CAN BE HEARD IN THE VICINITY OF STORMS. FREQUENT AND
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING OCCURS WITH MOST SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 1:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOsage53 min
Jun 16, 1:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAWashington29 min
Jun 16, 2:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSANowata52 min
Jun 16, 3:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSATulsa45 min
Jun 16, 7:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSATulsa31 min
Jun 16, 7:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAWagoner50 min
Jun 16, 4:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOkfuskee, Okmulgee49 min
Jun 16, 5:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore44 min
Jun 16, 5:09 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAMcIntosh, Okfuskee, Okmulgee51 min
Jun 16, 5:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALatimer29 min
Jun 16, 5:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAPittsburg44 min
Jun 16, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore45 min
Jun 16, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAHaskell, Latimer56 min
Jun 16, 6:02 PM CDTTornado WarningTSALeFlore43 min
Jun 16, 6:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOkmulgee51 min
Jun 16, 6:17 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAHaskell, Pittsburg43 min
Jun 16, 6:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSASequoyah40 min
Jun 16, 6:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOsage, Pawnee52 min
Jun 16, 6:27 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAMcIntosh, Muskogee48 min
Jun 16, 6:44 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAHaskell46 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.