Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 134, NWS Tulsa, OK
NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 12, 2002, 3:00 PM CDT for Cherokee County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 45 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 12, 2002, 3:00 PM CDT (20:00 UTC)
- Expired
- May 12, 2002, 3:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 45 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tulsa, OK
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Cherokee County, OK
The radar
The Tulsa radar (KINX), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:02 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 12, 3:11 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Pettit, 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 12, 1:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 166 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
- 513 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -102 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 786 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 348 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 353 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 6.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS54 KTSA 122000 SVRTUL OKC021-122045- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 259 PM CDT SUN MAY 12 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN CHEROKEE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA * UNTIL 345 PM CDT * AT 259 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF COOKSON...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. * SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...COOKSON. HAIL TO THE SIZE OF DIMES AND WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE WARNED AREA. STAY INDOORS AND AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. LAT...LON 3581 9515 3564 9514 3567 9480 3589 9481
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 Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 12, 2:00 PM CDT, 1 hour earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 12, 2:00 PM CDT, 1 hour before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 200 PM CDT SUN MAY 12 2002 WILL SEND OUT A QUICK UPDATE TO ADJUST TEMPERATURES BEHIND COLD FRONT. POPS ARE DOING OK FOR REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON. HOWIESON FCSTID = 44 .TSA... AR...NONE. OK...NONE.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 12, 1:15 PM CDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-131100- EASTERN OKLAHOMA / NORTHWEST ARKANSAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 115 PM CDT SUN MAY 12 2002 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT ACROSS MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS... THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG THE COLD FRONT THIS AFTERNOON. THE FRONT IS CURRENTLY LOCATED FROM MIAMI TO TULSA TO BRISTOW AND WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY MOVE SOUTHEAST DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. THE COMBINATION OF THE COLD FRONT AND AN UPPER LEVEL STORM MOVING INTO THE AREA FROM THE WEST WILL RESULT IN WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT. A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BE SEVERE WITH HAIL UP TO 1.75 INCHES IN DIAMETER AND DAMAGING WINDS UP TO 65 MILES AN HOUR. .SPOTTER ACTIVATION... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. .DISCUSSION... THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AS AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE APPROACHES THE AREA. THE ATMOSPHERE AHEAD OF THE SURFACE COLD FRONT REMAINS MODERATELY UNSTABLE AND SHOULD CONTINUE TO DESTABILIZE AS THE UPPER SYSTEM APPROACHES. LARGE HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS. IF THE STORMS BECOME SURFACE BASED...DAMAGING WINDS MAY ALSO BE POSSIBLE. THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL LIKELY END BY MIDNIGHT AS DRIER MORE STABLE AIR PUSHES SOUTH INTO THE AREA. THREAT TABLE VALID THROUGH 1200 UTC MONDAY AREA 1...MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THUNDERSTORM PROBABILITY...90 SEVERE PROBABILITY IF STORMS OCCUR...70 SIGNIFICANT SEVERE PROBABILITY IF STORMS OCCUR...20 THREAT AREAS DEFINE THE GREATEST RISK. PROBABILITIES ARE IN PERCENT. SIGNIFICANT SEVERE IS DEFINED AS F1 OR GREATER WIND/TORNADO DAMAGE AND/OR GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL OR LARGER. .OTHER HAZARDS... LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH A FEW LOCATIONS LIKELY TO RECEIVE GREATER THAN 2 INCHES OF RAIN. RELATED GRAPHICAL INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT: WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 12, 3:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Mayes | 37 min |
| May 12, 4:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Craig | 40 min |
| May 12, 4:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Delaware | 45 min |
| May 12, 4:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Muskogee | 39 min |
| May 12, 4:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Cherokee | 53 min |
| May 12, 5:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Delaware | 66 min |
| May 12, 5:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Adair | 57 min |
| May 12, 5:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Cherokee | 49 min |
| May 12, 6:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Okfuskee | 42 min |
| May 12, 6:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Tulsa | 51 min |
| May 12, 6:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Okfuskee | 31 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Oklahoma, 2002Every 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.