Alert archive / Arkansas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1999
Flash Flood Warning 57, NWS Tulsa, OK
NWS Tulsa, OK issued this flash flood warning at May 21, 1999, 8:01 AM CDT for Sebastian County, Arkansas; LeFlore County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.
The facts
- Issued
- May 21, 1999, 8:01 AM CDT (13:01 UTC)
- Expired
- May 21, 1999, 11:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Tulsa, OK
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
Counties Sebastian County, AR, LeFlore County, OK
The nearest sounding before it
Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 196 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1202 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -29 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 147 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTUL 211302 FFWTUL ARC131-OKC079-211600- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 801 AM CDT FRI MAY 21 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR SEBASTIAN COUNTY IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS NORTHERN LE FLORE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA * UNTIL 1100 AM CDT * AT 756 AM CDT RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 12 MILES EAST OF BURNVILLE TO EXCELSIOR TO SPIRO..MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. VERY HEAVY RAIN FALL HAS OCCURRED BETWEEN 700 AND 800 AM IN NORTHERN LE FLORE AND SEBASTIAN COUNTIES...WITH RADAR DATA INDICATING UP TO 3 INCHES HAS FALLEN IN A BAND FROM NEAR COWLINGTON TO SCULLYVILLE TO BRADEN TO NEAR RYE HILL. HEAVY RAINS WILL CONTINUE IN THESE AREAS THROUGH 9AM AND THIS WILL CAUSE RAPID RISES OF WATER IN DITCHES...LOW AREAS AND SMALL STREAMS. A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS IMMINENT. MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR OTHER LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHBER GROUND. LAT...LON 3535 9493 3516 9492 3508 9422 3537 9408
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 flash flood warning went out at May 21, 5:15 AM CDT, 2 hours 46 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 21, 5:15 AM CDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 515 AM CDT FRI MAY 21 1999 PROBLEM(S) OF THE DAY: POPS TEMPERATURES THIS IS MY FIRST SHIFT ON THE PUBLIC DESK SINCE EARLY APRIL... SO PAST CONTINUITY MAY BE LACKING. EARLY MORNING SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS COLD FRONT MAKING STEADY PROGRESS TO THE SOUTH. TSRA SHOULD TAPER OFF LATE IN THE MORNING AS MID-LEVEL SUPPORT MOVES SOUTHEAST. FASHIONED POPS IN THE FIRST PERIOD BY JUDGING WHERE PRECIP WILL BE BY 7 AM...THE FIRST HOUR OF POP VERIFICATION FOR THE FIRST PERIOD. THIS WILL ALSO HOPEFULLY PREVENT AN UPDATE BEFORE 8 AM. FRONT WILL THEN HANG UP NEAR THE RED RIVER TONIGHT AND SATURDAY... BRINGING A STRONGER COOL-DOWN TO THE NRN ZNS THAN THE SOUTH FOR TONIGHT. COULD BE A GOOD RADIATIONAL COOLING NIGHT IN THE NRN ZNS. ON SAT...SOUTHWEST WINDS OFF OF THE SURFACE WILL HELP BUILD A CAP THAT WILL INHIBIT CONVECTION...DESPITE MODERATE INSTABILITIES. WILL ONLY LEAVE IN A 20 POP FOR TONIGHT AND SAT IN THE FAR SRN ZNS DUE TO THE PROXIMITY OF THE DISSIPATING FRONT. BY SAT AFTN...SOUTHERLY FLOW IS RETURNING AND SO ARE INCREASING DEWPOINTS IN ADVANCE OF THE NEXT STRONGER FRONT WHICH WILL APPROACH THE AREA LATE SAT NGT. THE CAP MAY LIMIT THE SOUTHWARD EXTENT OF CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT ALONG THE FRONT...BUT IT LOOKS LIKE MID-LEVEL COOLING IN ASSOCIATION WITH A DEVELOPING MID-LEVEL LOW OVER IA/MN WILL BE ENOUGH TO BREAK THE CAP IN THE NRN ZNS LATE SAT NGT. STRONGER MID-LEVEL WINDS WILL ALSO BE CONFINED TO THE FAR NRN ZNS...KEEPING THE THREAT FOR ORGANIZED ACTIVITY MOSTLY CONFINED TO THE NRN ZNS. A FAVORABLE THICKNESS DIFLUENCE PATTERN SUGGESTS ONE OR MORE MCS'S COULD FORM ALONG THE FRONT AND DIVE SOUTHEAST DURING THE LATE NIGHT/EARLY MORNING HOURS. THE FRONT WILL CLEAR THE AREA ON SUN AFTN AND MOVE ALL THE WAY INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO. THIS WILL LEAVE A PLEASANTLY COOL AND DRY PACIFIC AIR MASS ENTRENCHED ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH MID-WEEK. TEMPERATURES IN THIS FORECAST PACKAGE ARE LARGELY BASED ON AVERAGE MODEL PERFORMANCE OVER THE PAST 30 DAYS WITH EXTRA WEIGHT GIVEN TO MODEL TRENDS THIS PAST WEEK. IN GENERAL...THE AVN MOS HAS OUTPERFORMED THE NGM MOS...WITH THE NGM MOS ESPECIALLY BEING TOO WARM AT NIGHT. FCSTID = 22 TUL 80 59 84 62 / 30 5 5 40 FSM 82 61 87 63 / 40 10 10 30 MLC 83 59 85 65 / 50 10 20 30 BVO 81 56 85 59 / 20 5 5 50 FYV 79 54 82 60 / 70 5 5 50 IDB 88 60 86 64 / 30 20 20 20 BYV 79 53 82 59 / 70 5 5 50 MIO 80 54 83 60 / 70 5 5 50 MKO 81 59 85 62 / 30 5 5 40 F10 82 59 85 62 / 30 5 5 40 HHW 87 60 86 64 / 30 20 20 20 .TUL... AR...NONE. OK...NONE. -------------------- EXPERIMENTAL OUTPUT: HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED NEXT 24 HOURS: SLIGHT CHANCE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS NGM CONFIDENCE: 7 ON A SCALE OF 0 TO 10 ETA CONFIDENCE: 7 ON A SCALE OF 0 TO 10 AVN CONFIDENCE: 7 ON A SCALE OF 0 TO 10 FCST CONFIDENCE: 8 ON A SCALE OF 0 TO 10
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 21, 6:00 AM CDT, 2 hours 1 minute before
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-221100- EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 600 AM CDT FRI MAY 21 1999 ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH 10 AM THIS MORNING SOUTH OF A LINE FROM OKMULGEE TO MUSKOGEE TO FORT SMITH. ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM BENTONVILLE ARKANSAS TO MCALESTER OKLAHOMA. .SYNOPSIS... A WEAK COLD FRONT EXTENDED FROM NEAR MANHATTAN KANSAS TO ALTUS OKLAHOMA EARLY THIS MORNING. THIS FRONT WILL SAG SLOWLY SOUTHEAST TODAY AND WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA TODAY BEFORE STALLING FROM WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS INTO SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA TONIGHT. .DISCUSSION... THUNDERSTORMS ONGOING EARLY THIS MORNING ARE EXPECTED TO GENERALLY REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. HOWEVER...ONE OR TWO ISOLATED STORMS MAY BECOME MARGINALLY SEVERE AND PRODUCE DIME SIZE HAIL OR 60 MILE AN HOUR WINDS SOUTH OF AN OKMULGEE TO MUSKOGEE TO FORT SMITH LINE THROUGH 10 AM. THE AIRMASS WILL BECOME MODERATELY UNSTABLE AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT THIS AFTERNOON. ALTHOUGH UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT WILL BE LACKING AND LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE ALONG THE COLD FRONT WILL BE RELATIVELY WEAK...THERE MAY BE JUST ENOUGH CONVERGENCE FOR ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON SOUTHEAST OF A BENTONVILLE TO MCALESTER LINE. IF STORMS DO DEVELOP...THE AMOUNT OF INSTABILITY PRESENT SUGGESTS THAT THEY WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME SEVERE AND PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. ALTHOUGH WIND PROFILES ARE NOT OVERLY SUPPORTIVE OF SUPERCELL STORMS...SOME POTENTIAL DOES EXIST FOR DEVIANT STORM MOTIONS TO THE SOUTH. IF A STORM CAN MOVE DUE SOUTH OR EVEN SOUTH SOUTHWEST...IT MAY TAKE ON SUPERCELLULAR CHARACTERISTICS AND A BRIEF TORNADO MAY THEN BE POSSIBLE. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DISSIPATE BY LATE EVENING AS COOLING TEMPERATURES STABILIZE THE AIRMASS. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY AND SPOTTER ACTIVATION... EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCIES AND SPOTTER ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION EARLY THIS MORNING AND AGAIN LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. AN UPDATED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AROUDN 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON.
Special weather statement, May 21, 6:00 AM CDT, 2 hours 1 minute before
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-221100- EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 600 AM CDT FRI MAY 21 1999 ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH 10 AM THIS MORNING SOUTH OF A LINE FROM OKMULGEE TO MUSKOGEE TO FORT SMITH. ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM BENTONVILLE ARKANSAS TO MCALESTER OKLAHOMA. .SYNOPSIS... A WEAK COLD FRONT EXTENDED FROM NEAR MANHATTAN KANSAS TO ALTUS OKLAHOMA EARLY THIS MORNING. THIS FRONT WILL SAG SLOWLY SOUTHEAST TODAY AND WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA TODAY BEFORE STALLING FROM WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS INTO SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA TONIGHT. .DISCUSSION... THUNDERSTORMS ONGOING EARLY THIS MORNING ARE EXPECTED TO GENERALLY REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. HOWEVER...ONE OR TWO ISOLATED STORMS MAY BECOME MARGINALLY SEVERE AND PRODUCE DIME SIZE HAIL OR 60 MILE AN HOUR WINDS SOUTH OF AN OKMULGEE TO MUSKOGEE TO FORT SMITH LINE THROUGH 10 AM. THE AIRMASS WILL BECOME MODERATELY UNSTABLE AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT THIS AFTERNOON. ALTHOUGH UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT WILL BE LACKING AND LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE ALONG THE COLD FRONT WILL BE RELATIVELY WEAK...THERE MAY BE JUST ENOUGH CONVERGENCE FOR ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON SOUTHEAST OF A BENTONVILLE TO MCALESTER LINE. IF STORMS DO DEVELOP...THE AMOUNT OF INSTABILITY PRESENT SUGGESTS THAT THEY WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME SEVERE AND PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. ALTHOUGH WIND PROFILES ARE NOT OVERLY SUPPORTIVE OF SUPERCELL STORMS...SOME POTENTIAL DOES EXIST FOR DEVIANT STORM MOTIONS TO THE SOUTH. IF A STORM CAN MOVE DUE SOUTH OR EVEN SOUTH SOUTHWEST...IT MAY TAKE ON SUPERCELLULAR CHARACTERISTICS AND A BRIEF TORNADO MAY THEN BE POSSIBLE. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DISSIPATE BY LATE EVENING AS COOLING TEMPERATURES STABILIZE THE AIRMASS. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY AND SPOTTER ACTIVATION... EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCIES AND SPOTTER ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION EARLY THIS MORNING AND AGAIN LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. AN UPDATED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AROUDN 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 5:07 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Washington | 53 min |
| May 21, 1:51 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Osage, Pawnee | 39 min |
| May 21, 2:31 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Creek, Pawnee | 29 min |
| May 21, 2:56 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Osage, Tulsa | 49 min |
| May 21, 3:19 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Rogers | 41 min |
| May 21, 3:25 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Wagoner | 50 min |
| May 21, 3:52 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Creek, Tulsa | 53 min |
| May 21, 4:18 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Cherokee, Delaware | 42 min |
| May 21, 4:35 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Adair | 25 min |
| May 21, 5:24 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TSA | Wagoner | 3 hr |
| May 21, 7:40 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Pittsburg | 50 min |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Arkansas, 1999Flash Flood Warnings in Oklahoma, 1999Every flash flood warning in 1999
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.