Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 9, NWS Tulsa, OK
NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 7, 1997, 8:36 PM CDT for Osage County, Pawnee County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 54 min. 2 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 7, 1997, 8:36 PM CDT (01:36 UTC)
- Expired
- May 7, 1997, 9:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 54 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tulsa, OK
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Osage County, OK, Pawnee County, OK
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 9:00 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Ponca City, OK | |
| May 7, 9:37 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Ralston, 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 7, 6:45 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 159 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1687 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -24 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 783 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 112 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 230 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.2
- Supercell composite
- 6.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTUL 080137 RRA TORTUL OKC113-117-080230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 836 PM CDT WED MAY 7 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA ...SOUTHWESTERN OSAGE COUNTY...WESTERN PAWNEE COUNTY AT 835PM...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PONCA CITY. THIS WAS PART OF A LARGE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. IT WILL MOVE OVER RURAL AREAS OF SOUTHWESTERN OSAGE AND NORTHWESTERN PAWNEE COUNTIES. THE STORM MAY ALSO PRODUCE HAIL AS LARGE AS BASEBALLS AND WINDS TO 70 MPH. 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 7, 8:35 PM CDT, 1 minute earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 7, 8:35 PM CDT, 1 minute before
FPUS3 KTUL 080135 AFDTUL EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 835 PM CDT WED MAY 7 1997 CURRENT FCST SEEMS TO HAVE AN EXCELLENT HANDLE ON THE EVOLVING SITUATION. TORNADIC TSTM APPROACHING THE NW PART OF THE FCST AREA ATTM HAS TURNED SOUTHEAST. WOULD EXPECT THIS STORM TO GRADUALLY WEAKEN DURING THE NEXT COUPLE HOURS AS IT MOVES OUT OF THE INSTABILITY AXIS AND LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE NEAR THE STORM IS MINIMAL. HOWEVER...COMPLEX OF STORMS IN ERN KS IS HEADED SOUTHEAST TOWARDS NE OK AND NW AR AND STORMS DEVELOPING IN WRN OK AND THE TX PANHANDLE SHOULD AFFECT SE OK LATER TONIGHT. THESE TWO AREAS OF STORMS ARE ALONG THE COLD FRONT WHICH WILL MOVE INTO NE OK LATER TONIGHT AND ACROSS THE REST OF THE AREA THURSDAY. NO FCST UPDATE IS ANTICIPATED ATTM BUT MAY UPDATE ZONES AROUND MIDNIGHT TO REMOVE TIMING REFERENCES TO PRECIP AND UPDATE FOR ONGOING TRENDS AT THAT TIME. .TUL... OK...NONE. AR...NONE. PLATE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 9:24 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Osage, Pawnee | 66 min |
| May 7, 9:48 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TSA | Osage | 5 hr |
| May 7, 10:15 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Osage | 60 min |
| May 7, 10:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Tulsa, Washington | 51 min |
| May 7, 10:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Pawnee | 45 min |
| May 7, 10:52 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TSA | Pawnee | 4 hr |
| May 7, 11:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Pawnee | 48 min |
| May 7, 11:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Osage | 68 min |
| May 8, 12:03 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Creek, Tulsa | 42 min |
| May 8, 12:38 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Tulsa | 52 min |
| May 8, 1:11 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Rogers, Wagoner | 49 min |
| May 8, 2:09 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Adair, Cherokee | 51 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.