Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 20, 2001LeFlore County, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 20, 2001, 7:12 PM CDT for LeFlore County, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 63 min. 2 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 20, 2001, 7:12 PM CDT (00:12 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 2001, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

Counties LeFlore County, OK, Sequoyah County, OK

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 35 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:12 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 20, 7:45 PM CDTHail 0.88Spiro, OK
May 20, 7:55 PM CDTTornado F0Spiro, OKA F0 tornado briefly touched down two miles west of Spiro. No damage was reported.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 20, 3:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 207 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2001-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1724 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2001-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 178 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1724 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
670 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
178 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
232 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.7
Supercell composite
8.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KTSA 210013
TORTUL
OKC079-135-210115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
712 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN SEQUOYAH COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
  NORTHERN LE FLORE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT

* AT 712 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM 12
  MILES NORTHWEST OF BOKOSHE...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. THE PUBLIC   
REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND WITH THIS STORM IN STIGLER AT 700 PM. 
THIS IS A LIFE THREATENING SITUATION...TAKE COVER NOW!

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...ARKOMA...
  POCOLA...SPIRO...BOKOSHE...PANAMA...MOFFETT...ROLAND...MULDROW...
  GANS AND SALLISAW.

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...GOLFBALL SIZED OR LARGER HAIL AND 
DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. GO TO 
A SAFE PLACE NOW!

LATu...LON 3549 9445 3515 9443 3511 9492 3547 9488
          3549 9475

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 7:00 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAPittsburg60 min
May 20, 7:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSANowata54 min
May 20, 7:16 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAHaskell44 min
May 20, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOttawa28 min
May 20, 7:20 PM CDTTornado WarningTSALatimer55 min
May 20, 7:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSARogers67 min
May 20, 7:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSATulsa, Washington45 min
May 20, 7:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACraig43 min
May 20, 7:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOkfuskee, Okmulgee51 min
May 20, 7:43 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAPittsburg62 min
May 20, 7:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAWagoner42 min
May 20, 8:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACherokee67 min
May 20, 8:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMcIntosh51 min
May 20, 8:19 PM CDTTornado WarningTSALatimer, LeFlore56 min
May 20, 8:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMayes63 min
May 20, 8:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMuskogee26 min
May 20, 8:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAHaskell44 min
May 20, 9:00 PM CDTTornado WarningTSALeFlore60 min
May 20, 9:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALatimer41 min
May 20, 9:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAHaskell40 min
May 20, 9:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore46 min
May 20, 10:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMuskogee56 min
May 20, 10:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALatimer, Pushmataha62 min
May 20, 10:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALatimer50 min
May 20, 10:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMcIntosh51 min
May 20, 10:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore59 min
May 20, 10:52 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSAHaskell, LeFlore, Sequoyah113 min
May 20, 11:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAPittsburg54 min
May 20, 11:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore38 min
May 20, 11:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAHaskell44 min
May 20, 11:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore45 min
May 20, 11:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALatimer55 min
May 20, 11:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAPittsburg49 min
May 21, 12:03 AM CDTTornado WarningTSALeFlore27 min
May 21, 12:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAPittsburg, Pushmataha45 min
May 21, 1:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAPushmataha62 min
May 21, 2:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAPushmataha64 min
May 21, 2:29 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSAPushmataha3 hr

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.