Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 48, NWS Tulsa, OK

July 3, 1997Washington County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at Jul 3, 1997, 7:53 PM CDT for Washington County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 37 min. 4 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
Jul 3, 1997, 7:53 PM CDT (00:53 UTC)
Expired
Jul 3, 1997, 8:30 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

County Washington County, OK

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:55 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
Jul 3, 7:57 PM CDTHail 1Bartlesville, OK
Jul 3, 7:58 PM CDTHail 1Dewey, OK
Jul 3, 8:00 PM CDTHail 1Bartlesville, OK
Jul 3, 8:07 PM CDTThunderstorm WindBartlesville, 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
Jul 3, 3:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 188 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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 1997-07-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3487 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 1997-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 38 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
3487 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1249 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
7.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUL 040052 RRA
TORTUL
OKC147-040130-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
753 PM CDT THU JUL 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
 
   ...WASHINGTON COUNTY
 
AT 750 PM...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST SOUTH OF
BARTLESVILLE. THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN
HOUR.
 
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
Jul 3, 7:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACraig, Ottawa56 min
Jul 3, 7:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSANowata, Washington66 min
Jul 3, 7:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOsage62 min
Jul 3, 8:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAPawnee66 min
Jul 3, 8:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACraig, Nowata64 min
Jul 3, 8:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOsage64 min
Jul 3, 9:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSADelaware, Ottawa69 min
Jul 3, 9:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACraig32 min
Jul 3, 10:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOsage, Tulsa53 min
Jul 3, 10:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek57 min
Jul 3, 11:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSATulsa32 min
Jul 3, 11:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSATulsa26 min
Jul 3, 11:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSATulsa22 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.