Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Watches in 2001

Tornado Watch 198

May 5, 200125 counties in Oklahoma; 9 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 5, 2001, 3:15 PM CDT for 25 counties in Oklahoma; 9 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 5, 2001, 3:15 PM CDT (20:15 UTC)
Expired: May 5, 2001, 9:00 PM CDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 34 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, Grady 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, Clay County, TX, Foard County, TX, Hardeman County, TX, King County, TX, Knox County, TX, Wichita County, TX, Wilbarger County, TX

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 5, 6:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Blaine, Kingfisher	33 min
May 5, 7:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Greer, Harmon	40 min
May 5, 7:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Washita	52 min
May 5, 8:13 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OUN	Washita	32 min
May 5, 8:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Greer, Kiowa	44 min
May 5, 8:35 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OUN	Custer	25 min
May 5, 8:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Blaine, Caddo	46 min

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 172 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: 101 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 456 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 72 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.

000 
WWUS9 KMKC 051942
SEL8  

SEL8  
MKC WW 051938
OKZ000-TXZ000-060200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 198
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
238 PM CDT SAT MAY 5 2001

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

   western OKLAHOMA                           
   eastern TEXAS panhandle and northwest texas                    
         

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 315 PM UNTIL 900
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WICHITA FALLS 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 197...

DISCUSSION...thunderstorms expected to rapidly develop along and e
of dry line located ern tx panhandle.  airmass continues to
destabilize nwd thru wrn ok with capes now above 2000 j/kg.  with
approach of strong mid level trough coupled with expected
increasing low level jet wrn ok...conditions will become
increasingly favorable for tornadic supercells during
afternoon/evening


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...HALES

;332,1001 370,0995 370,0973 332,0980;

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 4, 7:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bryan, Carter, Coal, Garvin, Jefferson, Johnston and 5 more	4 hr
May 4, 8:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Bell, Blanco, Burnet, Coryell, Falls, Hamilton and 6 more	3 hr
May 4, 9:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Caldwell, Comal, Dimmit and 7 more	2 hr
May 5, 2:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Bell, Blanco, Bosque, Brazos, Brown, Burleson and 28 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2001 Tornado Watches in Texas, 2001 Every tornado watch in 2001

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.