Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 43, NWS Tulsa, OK

June 18, 1998Muskogee County, Wagoner County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at Jun 18, 1998, 6:38 PM CDT for Muskogee County, Wagoner 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: Jun 18, 1998, 6:38 PM CDT (23:38 UTC)
Expired: Jun 18, 1998, 7:15 PM CDT
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Whole counties

Counties Muskogee County, OK, Wagoner County, OK

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:41 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
Jun 18, 6:40 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Porter, OK	There was a brief tornado touchdown 5 miles west of Porter that blew a vehicle off of SH 51-A.
Jun 18, 6:44 PM CDT	Hail 2.75	Taft, OK
Jun 18, 7:15 PM CDT	Hail 0.88	Muskogee, OK	Location: in the northern part of Muskogee
Jun 18, 7:20 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Muskogee, OK	Ten-inch diameter tree limbs were blown down.

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
Jun 18, 4:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 187 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: 1939 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -299 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1074 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 436 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 495 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUL 182338 RRA
TORTUL
OKC101-145-190015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
638 PM CDT THU JUN 18 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  NORTHERN MUSKOGEE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
  SOUTHERN WAGONER COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 715 PM CDT

* AT 635 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 1 MILE NORTHEAST OF
  HASKELL. A TORNADO COULD FORM AT ANY TIME AS THIS STORM MOVES EAST-
  SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM...
  TAFT
  CHOSKA
  MUSKOGEE

THIS TORNADO IS LIKELY WRAPPED IN RAIN AND NOT EASILY SEEN. IF YOU
WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE OR HEAR IT COMING IT MAY BE TOO LATE - TAKE
SHELTER 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
Jun 18, 10:33 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Sequoyah	42 min
Jun 18, 4:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Creek	54 min
Jun 18, 4:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Nowata, Washington	44 min
Jun 18, 5:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Tulsa	55 min
Jun 18, 5:27 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Creek, Tulsa	48 min
Jun 18, 5:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Craig, Nowata	45 min
Jun 18, 5:47 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Creek, Tulsa	103 min
Jun 18, 5:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Okfuskee	63 min
Jun 18, 6:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Wagoner	36 min
Jun 18, 6:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Tulsa	45 min
Jun 18, 6:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Muskogee, Okmulgee	53 min
Jun 18, 6:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Okfuskee, Okmulgee	55 min
Jun 18, 6:53 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Okfuskee	2 hr

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.