Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 236, NWS Norman, OK

May 26, 2002Atoka County, Coal County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 26, 2002, 5:04 AM CDT for Atoka County, Coal County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 41 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 26, 2002, 5:04 AM CDT (10:04 UTC)
Expired: May 26, 2002, 5:45 AM CDT
In force: 41 min
Issued by: NWS Norman, OK
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Atoka County, OK, Coal County, OK

The radar

The Norman radar (KTLX), 146 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:07 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 26, 5:07 AM CDT	Hail 1.5	Coalgate, 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 00:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 148 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: 2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -607 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 906 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 59 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 
WUUS54 KOUN 261004
SVROKC
OKC005-029-261045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
502 AM CDT SUN MAY 26 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  ATOKA COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA
  EASTERN COAL COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 545 AM CDT

* AT 500 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5     
  MILES EAST OF COALGATE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. ANOTHER 
  RAPIDLY INTENSIFYING THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 7 MILES EAST OF
  ATOKA... ALSO MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.  

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE CHOCKIE...COALGATE...STRINGTOWN
  AND WARDVILLE

HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS IS LIKELY WITH THESE SEVERE 
THUNDERSTORMS.

LAT...LON 3463 9628 3428 9610 3432 9577 3458 9579
          3469 9590
 MILLER

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 26, 2:14 AM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 26, 2:14 AM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
212 AM SUN MAY 26 2002

RATHER IMPRESSIVE MID/UPPER LEVEL S/W TROF AXIS CURRENTLY SLIDING
INTO THE FORECAST AREA. CONVECTION CONTINUES TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF
THIS FEATURE EARLY THIS MORNING OVER ROUGHLY THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF
THE FA..FEEDING OFF CAPES OF AROUND 1000 J/KG IN THE 800-700 MB
LAYER. EXPECT THIS TO CONTINUE FOR A GOOD PART OF THE DAY AS LIFT
CONTINUES TO ACT ON UNSTABLE LAYER ABOVE THE SURFACE..BUT COVERAGE
OF CONVECTION SHUD DECREASE BY AFTERNOON.  ATTENTION THEN TURNS TO
DEVELOPING BOUNDARY LAYER INSTABILITY AXIS FROM CENT/WRN TX NWD INTO
WRN KS. INTENSE CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT WILL PROBABLY OCCUR SOMEWHERE
ALONG THIS AXIS THIS AFTERNOON AND THEN MOVE EWD TONITE.  THUS..WE
WILL BUMP POPS UPWARD FOR THE FIRST 2 PDS.

FORECAST FOR PERIODS BEYOND BECOMES INCREASINGLY DEPENDENT UPON
CUMULATIVE EFFECTS OF CONVECTION AND RESIDUAL BOUNDARIES.  IT IS
LATE MAY..AND WE WILL LIKELY HAVE PRETTY HEALTHY INSTABILITY IN
PLACE EACH DAY. SO..CHANCES FOR STORMS WILL CONTINUE..WITH BEST
CHANCE RIGHT NOW LOOKING LIKE TUES INTO WED.  SEVERAL OF THE MEDIUM
RANGE MODELS WANT TO BUILD A RATHER SUBSTANTIAL UPPER RIDGE INTO THE
SRN PLAINS MID/LATE WEEK..BUT AM NOT NECESSARILY INCLINED TO BELIEVE
THIS SINCE THE SAME MODELS 6 DAYS AGO WERE FORECASTING A SIMLIAR
PATTERN FOR RIGHT NOW..WHICH IS HARDLY THE CASE.  WITH ALL THIS IN
MIND..WE REALLY DO NOT HAVE ANY COMPELLING REASONS TO MAKE MANY
CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED PERIODS..SO WE WONT ATTM.
 MILLER

PRELIM NUMBERS..
OKC   79  65  81  66 /  40  20  40  40
HBR   82  66  83  66 /  20  40  40  40
SPS   83  67  84  68 /  20  30  30  40
GAG   80  63  82  62 /  40  50  30  50
PNC   77  65  80  66 /  20  40  40  40
DUA   79  66  82  67 /  70  20  30  30

.OUN...
OK...NONE.
TX...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 26, 3:05 AM CDT, 1 hour 59 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
305 AM CDT SUN MAY 26 2002

TIME (CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0245 AM    DUNCAN                    OK   .75 INCH HAIL
05/26/02   STEPHENS                       DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED ON
                                          THE SOUTH SIDE OF DUNCAN BY
                                          STEPHENS COUNTY SKYWARN.

0248 AM    DUNCAN                    OK   .75 INCH HAIL
05/26/02   STEPHENS                       DIME SIZE HAIL STILL
                                          REPORTED ON THE SOUTH SIDE
                                          OF DUNCAN BY STEPHENS
                                          COUNTY SKYWARN.

...SPEG.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 26, 2:47 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Comanche, Stephens	43 min
May 26, 4:18 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Garvin, Murray	42 min
May 26, 5:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Garvin, Murray, Pontotoc	44 min
May 26, 5:46 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Coal, Pontotoc	44 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Oklahoma, 2002 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002

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.