Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 28, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 24, 1998Osage County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1998, 9:40 PM CDT for Osage County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 65 min. 5 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 24, 1998, 9:40 PM CDT (02:40 UTC)
Expired: May 24, 1998, 10:45 PM CDT
In force: 65 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Whole counties

County Osage County, OK

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:41 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 24, 9:40 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Grainola, OK
May 24, 9:40 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Grainola, OK	Large tree limbs blown down
May 24, 10:05 PM CDT	Hail 1	Foraker, OK	In addition, a 53 mph thunderstorm gust was measured at the Oklahoma mesonet site 8 miles ESE of Foraker at 1030 PM CDT.
May 24, 10:10 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61	Shidler, OK
May 24, 10:20 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61	Burbank, 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 24, 8:15 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 181 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: 3427 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -40 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1455 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 162 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.4
Supercell composite: 16.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

499 
WFUS54 KTSA 250242 RRA
TORTUL
OKC113-250345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
940 PM CDT SUN MAY 24 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  NORTHWESTERN OSAGE COUNTY - NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 1045 PM CDT

* AT 938 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  SHIDLER. A TORNADO COULD FORM AT ANY TIME AS THIS STORM MOVES
  SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM...
  SHIDLER
  BURBANK

LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY
THIS STORM. MOVE TO A SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY

THE SAFEST PLACE IN A TORNADO IS BELOW GROUND. IF A BASEMENT OR
STORM CELLAR IS NOT AVAILABLE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR. GET UNDER SOMETHING STURDY AND USE BLANKETS AND
PILLOWS TO PROTECT YOUR HEAD AND BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS. AVOID
WINDOWS AND LARGE ROOMS. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES AND AUTOMOBILES FOR
MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. AS A LAST RESORT TAKE COVER IN A DITCH.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 24, 8:53 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Osage	52 min
May 24, 9:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Nowata	63 min
May 24, 9:34 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Nowata	41 min
May 24, 9:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Craig	37 min
May 24, 10:43 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Osage	62 min
May 24, 10:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Craig	48 min
May 24, 11:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Nowata, Washington	50 min
May 24, 11:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage	44 min
May 25, 12:13 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Osage	2 hr
May 25, 12:19 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Craig	41 min
May 25, 12:32 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage	43 min
May 25, 12:43 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Delaware, Ottawa	47 min
May 25, 1:12 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage, Washington	48 min
May 25, 1:31 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Nowata, Rogers	44 min
May 25, 2:25 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Mayes	50 min
May 25, 2:54 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Delaware	36 min
May 25, 4:10 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage, Pawnee	50 min
May 25, 4:59 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage, Pawnee	46 min
May 25, 6:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Tulsa	44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.