Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 2001
Tornado Warning 8, NWS Tulsa, OK
NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 20, 2001, 6:02 PM CDT for Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 58 min. 2 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, 6:02 PM CDT (23:02 UTC)
- Expired
- May 20, 2001, 7:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tulsa, OK
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
County Pittsburg County, OK
The radar
The Tulsa radar (KINX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:06 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, 6:31 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Scipio, OK | |
| May 20, 6:58 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Mc Alester, OK | A F0 tornado briefly touched down north of McAlester. 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 3:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 144 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
- 796 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -20 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 7 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS54 KTSA 202303 TORTUL OKC121-210000- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 602 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR NORTHERN PITTSBURG COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA * UNTIL 700 PM CDT * AT 602 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF CANADIAN. THIS DANGEROUS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS DEVELOPING JUST WEST OF STEWART. * SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...CANADIAN... INDIANOLA...CROWDER...BLOCKER...SCIPIO AND HAYWOOD. IF YOU ARE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM...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 THREAT OF A TORNADO...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGIhNG STRAIGHT LINE WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. GO TO A SAFE PLACE NOW! LAT...LON 3509 9609 3484 9609 3504 9539 3531 9547
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, 6:11 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, 6:41 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TSA | Washington | 49 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.