Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 601

June 17, 199824 counties in Oklahoma; 17 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 17, 1998, 7:30 PM CDT for 24 counties in Oklahoma; 17 counties in Texas. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jun 17, 1998, 7:30 PM CDT (00:30 UTC)
Expired: Jun 18, 1998, 2:00 AM CDT
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 41 counties

Alfalfa County, OK, Beckham County, OK, Blaine County, OK, Caddo County, OK, Canadian County, OK, Comanche County, OK, Cotton County, OK, Custer County, OK, Dewey County, OK, Ellis County, OK, Garfield County, OK, Grant County, OK, Greer County, OK, Harmon County, OK, Harper County, OK, Jackson County, OK, Kingfisher County, OK, Kiowa County, OK, Major County, OK, Roger Mills County, OK, Tillman County, OK, Washita County, OK, Woods County, OK, Woodward County, OK, Archer County, TX, Baylor County, TX, Childress County, TX, Collingsworth County, TX, Cottle County, TX, Dickens County, TX, Foard County, TX, Hall County, TX, Hardeman County, TX, Hemphill County, TX, King County, TX, Knox County, TX, Lipscomb County, TX, Motley County, TX, Wheeler County, TX, Wichita County, TX, Wilbarger County, TX

Warnings issued inside it

1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 17, 7:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Kiowa, Washita	47 min

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 193 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 6361 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 79 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -93 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.

443 
WWUS9 KMKC 180005
SEL1  
MKC WW 180005
OKZ000-TXZ000-180700-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 601
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
705 PM CDT WED JUN 17 1998

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   WESTERN OKLAHOMA                           
   NORTHWEST TEXAS                              

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 730 PM
UNTIL 200 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 85 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 75 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF CHILDRESS TEXAS TO 65
MILES NORTHWEST OF ENID OKLAHOMA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 599...WW 600...

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS...INCLUDING SUPERCELLS...EXPECTED TO
INCREASE IN COVERAGE THIS EVENING AS STRONG LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE
CONTINUES INVOF DRY LINE.  APPROACH OF TRAILING PORTION OF ROCKIES
UPPER TROF WILL FURTHER ERODE CAP AND MAINTAIN DEEP-LATER
INSTABILITY/SHEAR THROUGH LATE TONIGHT.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 75 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...CORFIDI

332,1010 370,1000 370,0972 332,0982

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 18, 4:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Adair, Cherokee, Craig, Creek, Delaware, Haskell and 18 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 1998 Tornado Watches in Texas, 1998 Every tornado watch in 1998

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.