Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 35, NWS Norman, OK

May 16, 2002Custer County, Roger Mills County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at May 16, 2002, 11:37 PM CDT for Custer County, Roger Mills County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 38 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 16, 2002, 11:37 PM CDT (04:37 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 2002, 12:15 AM CDT
In force: 38 min
Issued by: NWS Norman, OK
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Custer County, OK, Roger Mills County, OK

The radar

The Altus AFB radar (KFDR), 156 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:40 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.

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 16, 10:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 00:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 196 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: 3039 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1088 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 159 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.0
Supercell composite: 5.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KOUN 170437
TOROKC
OKC039-129-170515-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1136 PM CDT THU MAY 16 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN CUSTER COUNTY IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA
  ROGER MILLS COUNTY IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 1215 AM CDT

* AT 1136 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
  CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 4 MILES EAST OF STRONG CITY...MOVING
  EAST AT 20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE FOSS RESERVOIR...HAMMON...
  MOOREWOOD AND STRONG CITY

TAKE COVER NOW. LEAVE MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES. IF POSSIBLE...MOVE
TO A BASEMENT OR STORM SHELTER. OTHERWISE MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM OR
HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS AND OUTSIDE
WALLS.

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. IF YOU
ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS LARGE AND DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO... TAKE COVER
IMMEDIATELY. A BASEMENT OR STORM SHELTER IS BEST. OTHERWISE...TAKE
COVER IN AN INTERIOR CLOSET OR BATHROOM AWAY FROM OUTSIDE WALLS AND
WINDOWS. COVER YOUR HEAD WITH PILLOWS AND BLANKETS.

LAT...LON 3583 9967 3554 9964 3549 9924 3581 9922

WR

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 7:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Roger Mills	50 min
May 16, 8:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Atoka	44 min
May 16, 9:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Kingfisher	39 min
May 16, 9:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Logan, Payne	49 min
May 16, 10:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Dewey	41 min
May 16, 10:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OUN	Kingfisher	32 min
May 16, 10:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Logan, Roger Mills	47 min
May 16, 10:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Blaine, Kingfisher	47 min
May 16, 11:23 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	OUN	Logan	3 hr
May 16, 11:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Custer, Dewey, Roger Mills	47 min
May 16, 11:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Logan	44 min
May 16, 11:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Ellis	36 min
May 16, 11:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Blaine, Canadian, Kingfisher	46 min
May 16, 11:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Beckham	45 min
May 17, 12:11 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	OUN	Custer, Dewey	34 min
May 17, 12:14 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Major	46 min
May 17, 12:28 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Blaine, Caddo, Canadian	47 min
May 17, 12:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Beckham	45 min
May 17, 12:31 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Canadian, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma	44 min
May 17, 12:37 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Alfalfa	38 min
May 17, 12:44 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Grant	46 min
May 17, 1:11 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma	49 min
May 17, 1:16 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Beckham, Washita	44 min
May 17, 1:20 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	OUN	Kingfisher	3 hr
May 17, 1:26 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Grady	34 min
May 17, 1:49 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Canadian, Cleveland, Grady, McClain, Oklahoma	71 min
May 17, 1:55 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Logan	65 min
May 17, 2:10 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Beckham	35 min
May 17, 2:25 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Lincoln, Pottawatomie	65 min
May 17, 2:41 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Garvin	49 min
May 17, 3:06 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Seminole	39 min
May 17, 3:17 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Garvin, Stephens	43 min
May 17, 3:29 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Pontotoc	46 min
May 17, 3:52 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Carter	38 min
May 17, 4:17 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Coal	43 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.