Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 2001
Tornado Warning 11, NWS Tulsa, OK
NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 20, 2001, 6:41 PM CDT for Washington County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 49 min. 3 reports came from 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, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- May 20, 2001, 6:41 PM CDT (23:41 UTC)
- Expired
- May 20, 2001, 7:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 49 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tulsa, OK
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
County Washington County, OK
The radar
The Tulsa radar (KINX), 75 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 6:57 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 E | Wynona, OK | |
| May 20, 7:11 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Watova, OK | |
| May 20, 7:15 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Pawhuska, 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 20, 5:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 4 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lamont, OK (KLMN), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 119 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
- 186 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -106 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 769 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 71 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 125 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS54 KTSA 202343 TORTUL OKC147-210030- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 641 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... WASHINGTON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA * UNTIL 730 PM CDT * AT 640 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PAWHUSKA...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. STORM SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND WITH THIS STORM EARLIER WHEN IT PASSED SOUTH OF PAWHUSKA. THE TORNADO HAD LIFTED MOMENTARILY BUT COULD TOUCH DOWN AGAIN AT ANY TIME. THIS IS A LIFE THREATENING SITUATION...TAKE COVER NOW! * SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...DEWEY... RAMONA... OCHELATA...BARTLESVILLE...OKESA. IF YOU ARE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...TAKE COVER NOW! IF NO UNDERGROUND SHELTER IS AVAILABLE MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. AVOID WINDOWS! IN ADDITION TO THE TORNADO...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. GO TO A SAFE PLACE NOW! LAT...LON 3670 9638 3652 9634 3655 9581 3685 9581
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 4:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Osage | 58 min |
| May 20, 4:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Okfuskee, Okmulgee | 51 min |
| May 20, 4:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | McIntosh | 60 min |
| May 20, 4:31 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | McIntosh | 29 min |
| May 20, 4:56 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | McIntosh | 49 min |
| May 20, 5:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Osage | 61 min |
| May 20, 5:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Creek | 52 min |
| May 20, 5:32 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Osage | 43 min |
| May 20, 5:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | McIntosh | 60 min |
| May 20, 5:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Tulsa | 44 min |
| May 20, 5:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Rogers, Wagoner | 39 min |
| May 20, 6:02 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Pittsburg | 58 min |
| May 20, 6:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Haskell, Muskogee | 64 min |
| May 20, 6:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Osage | 48 min |
| May 20, 6:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Pawnee | 62 min |
| May 20, 6:16 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Osage | 44 min |
| May 20, 6:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Craig, Mayes, Rogers | 57 min |
| May 20, 6:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Creek, Tulsa | 62 min |
| May 20, 6:56 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Mayes | 49 min |
| May 20, 6:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Osage | 46 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 2001Every tornado warning in 2001Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.