Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 2, 1997LeFlore County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1997, 4:47 PM CDT for LeFlore County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 28 min. 1 report 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 2, 1997, 4:47 PM CDT (21:47 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 1997, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

County LeFlore County, OK

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 2, 4:49 PM CDTHail 1Spiro, OKA severe thunderstorm produced quarter size hail at Spiro.

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

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 237 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 12:00Z on 1997-05-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1997-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 283 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
915 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
283 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
413 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUL 022145 RRA
TORTUL
OKC079-022215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
447 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA
 
   ...NORTHERN LE FLORE COUNTY
 
AT 4 48 PM A TORNADO WAS INDICATED NEAR SPIRO. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE
EAST-NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. SPIRO IS IN PATH OF THIS STORM. IF
YOU LIVE IN SPIRO...TAKE COVER NOW!!!
 
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 2, 12:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOsage, Pawnee51 min
May 2, 12:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek, Osage, Pawnee, Tulsa65 min
May 2, 12:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAWashington65 min
May 2, 2:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek53 min
May 2, 2:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOkmulgee, Tulsa44 min
May 2, 2:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMuskogee, Wagoner44 min
May 2, 3:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACherokee, Muskogee30 min
May 2, 12:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACraig39 min
May 2, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAHaskell49 min
May 2, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore45 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.