Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 159, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 16, 2002Choctaw County, Pushmataha County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 2002, 8:50 PM CDT for Choctaw County, Pushmataha County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 55 min. 2 reports 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 16, 2002, 8:50 PM CDT (01:50 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 2002, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Choctaw County, OK, Pushmataha County, OK

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 143 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:50 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
May 16, 9:05 PM CDTHail 0.75Antlers, OK
May 16, 9:30 PM CDTHail 0.75Hugo, 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, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 205 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, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2002-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3039 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2002-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 49 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
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 
WUUS54 KTSA 170150
SVRTUL
OKC023-127-170245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
850 PM CDT THU MAY 16 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CHOCTAW COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA
  PUSHMATAHA COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 945 PM CDT

* AT 850 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG
  A LINE EXTENDING FROM KOSOMA TO 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SOPER...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THESE STORMS INCLUDE...HUGO...
  GOODLAND...SAWYER...SOPER...MESSER...KENT...ANTLERS...CLAYTON...
  RATTAN...CLOUDY...MOYERS...KOSOMA...SNOW...NASHOBA...STANLEY...
  KIAMICHI...OLETA...KELLOND AND DUNBAR.

HAIL TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS 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 3457 9556 3386 9585 3407 9518 3467 9495

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 16, 7:53 PM CDT, 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 16, 7:53 PM CDT, 57 minutes before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
753 PM CDT THU MAY 16 2002

COMPLICATED SFC PATTERN THIS EVENING WITH MULTIPLE BOUNDARIES ACROSS
AREA.  COLD FRONT LOCATED NEAR MCI EXTENDING SW INTO OK PANHANDLE.
FURTHER SOUTH INVERTED SFC TROUGH OVER NW OK AND SECONDARY WEAKER
BOUNDARY ACROSS SE OK.  ELEVATED CONVECTION HAS DEVELOP OVER
SOUTH-CENTRAL OK/NORTH TEXAS IN RESPONSE TO WEAK UPPER WAVE THAT
MOVED OUT OF MEXICO EARLIER TODAY.  ELEVATED INSTABILITIES WILL
REMAIN MARGINAL THIS EVENING...BUT STRONGER CELLS COULD BRIEFLY
APPROACH SEVERE LIMITS AS ACTIVITY MOVES EAST ACROSS SE OK THIS
EVENING.

STRONGER CONVECTION WILL LIKELY DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT AS MAIN UPPER
DISTURBANCE MOVES OUT INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS. SCT TSTMS COULD
DEVELOP LATER THIS EVENING ALONG INVERTED SFC TROUGH OVER
NORTH-CENTRAL/ NORTHEAST OK...BECOMING MORE WIDESPREAD AS COLD FRONT
PUSHES SOUTH INTO FA LATE TONIGHT.  THE HEAVIEST PRECIP EXPECTED
AFTER 300 AM... CONTINUING THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS BEFORE PUSHING
EAST OF FA BY MID AFTERNOON FRIDAY.

FLASH FLOOD WATCH STILL LOOKS GOOD AS WIDESPREAD 2-3 INCH RAINFALL
AMOUNTS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF FA THROUGH FRIDAY
AFTERNOON. WILL UPDATE TO TWEAK CURRENT FORECAST GIVEN LATEST
TRENDS...OTHERWISE NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES ANTICIPATED THIS EVENING.

FCSTID = 12

.TSA...
AR...FLASH FLOOD WATCH  UNTIL NOON CDT FRIDAY FOR ZONES
ARZ001>002...ARZ010>011...ARZ019>020...ARZ029.

OK...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FROM UNTIL NOON CDT FRIDAY FOR ZONES
OKZ054>076.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 9:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAPawnee55 min
May 16, 9:55 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSAOsage, Pawnee2 hr
May 16, 11:03 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSAWashington3 hr
May 16, 11:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAPawnee48 min
May 16, 11:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOsage40 min
May 16, 11:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAWashington41 min
May 16, 11:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek, Tulsa62 min
May 17, 12:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSATulsa49 min
May 17, 12:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek61 min
May 17, 1:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOkmulgee56 min
May 17, 1:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSARogers, Tulsa, Wagoner50 min
May 17, 1:18 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSACreek, Tulsa3 hr
May 17, 1:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACherokee41 min
May 17, 1:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSATulsa, Wagoner47 min
May 17, 2:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek63 min
May 17, 2:21 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSAWagoner3 hr
May 17, 2:34 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSAOkmulgee2 hr
May 17, 2:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMuskogee, Wagoner67 min
May 17, 3:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACherokee57 min
May 17, 3:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek, Okfuskee63 min
May 17, 3:15 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSACherokee, Creek, Delaware, Mayes, Muskogee, Okmulgee and 2 more3 hr
May 17, 3:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOkmulgee53 min
May 17, 4:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMcIntosh40 min
May 17, 4:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAHaskell, Muskogee, Pittsburg51 min
May 17, 5:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSASequoyah44 min
May 17, 5:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALatimer40 min
May 17, 5:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAPushmataha43 min
May 17, 5:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore52 min
May 17, 5:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSASequoyah49 min
May 17, 6:10 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSACherokee, Creek, Delaware, Mayes, Muskogee, Okmulgee and 2 more6 hr

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.