Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 40, NWS Norman, OK

October 3, 2002Woods County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at Oct 3, 2002, 5:55 PM CDT for Woods County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 35 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
Oct 3, 2002, 5:55 PM CDT (22:55 UTC)
Expired
Oct 3, 2002, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Norman, OK
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Woods County, OK

The radar

The Vance AFB radar (KVNX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:54 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
Oct 3, 5:58 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52 ECamp Houston, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Oct 3, 5:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 129 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2002-10-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2002-10-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 335 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
684 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
335 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
449 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.

005 
WFUS54 KOUN 032255
TOROKC
OKC151-032330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
554 PM CDT THU OCT 3 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WOODS COUNTY IN NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 630 PM CDT

* AT 554 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM  
  CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR CAMP HOUSTON...MOVING
  EAST-NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

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.

LAT...LON 3690 9926 3673 9908 3683 9861 3699 9867

...SPEG.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 2, 7:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNKay45 min
Oct 3, 12:49 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningOUNAlfalfa3 hr
Oct 3, 1:28 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningOUNWoods, Woodward3 hr
Oct 3, 3:41 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningOUNAlfalfa3 hr
Oct 3, 5:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNWoods44 min
Oct 3, 6:30 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNWoods30 min
Oct 3, 6:30 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNWoods30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes 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.