Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 20, NWS Tulsa, OK

March 15, 2002Latimer County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 15, 2002, 12:20 PM CST for Latimer County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 25 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Mar 15, 2002, 12:20 PM CST (18:20 UTC)
Expired
Mar 15, 2002, 12:45 PM CST
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

County Latimer County, OK

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:24 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
Mar 15, 12:30 PM CSTHail 0.88Wilburton, 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 nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 199 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 12:00Z on 2002-03-15Temperature 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, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2002-03-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 326 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
996 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
84 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
326 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
539 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 KTSA 151820
SVRTUL
OKC077-151845-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1220 PM CST FRI MAR 15 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN LATIMER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 1245 PM CST

* AT 1220 PM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10
  MILES WEST OF WILBURTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 60 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...WILBURTON.

HAIL TO THE SIZE OF DIMES CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE WARNED AREA.

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 Mar 15, 10:10 AM CST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 15, 10:10 AM CST, 2 hours 10 minutes before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1010 AM CST FRI MAR 15 2002

SFC CDFNT HAS PUSHED TO THE EAST OF THE CWFA THIS MORNING. H8
BOUNDARY STRETCHED OUT ROUGHLY ALONG OR JUST EAST OF THE I-44
CORRIDOR. EASTERN HALF OF THE CWFA UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF MODEST UPR
DIVERGENCE IN THE RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF THE UPR JET...AND WL STAY
THAT WAY FOR MOST OF THE DAY.

BUFKIT MODEL FORECAST SOUNDINGS ALSO SHOWING SOME MODEST ELEVATED
CAPE ACROSS FAR EASTERN ZONES...WITH ELEVATED LIS APPROACHING -4 DEG
C.

ALL THIS TO SAY SCATTERED STORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO THE AFTN HOURS
ACROSS ERN ZNS. WL GO AHEAD AND RAISE POPS TO THE LOW CHC CATEGORY
ACROSS NW AR...AND LEAVE SLGT CHC POPS ACROSS SE OK. COULD SEE
SHRA/TSRA ACTIVITY JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE IN THE STRONG BAROCLINIC ZONE
OVER THE ERN PART OF THE CWFA. ALSO GIVEN THE AVAILABLE CAPE AND
STEEP LAPSE RATES...THERE MAY BE A FEW HAIL REPORTS WITH SOME OF THIS
ACTIVITY.

UPDATED ZNS OUT IN A FEW...THANKS SGF FOR COORD THIS MORNING

MANNING
FCSTID = 24

.TSA...
AR...NONE.
OK...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 15, 11:00 AM CST, 1 hour 20 minutes before
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-161200-

EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1100 AM CST FRI MAR 15 2002

...A FEW THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AND FAR
   SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA THIS AFTERNOON...

A COLD FRONT WAS LOCATED THIS MORNING OVER NORTH-CENTRAL ARKANSAS...
EXTENDING SOUTHWEST INTO FAR SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA. SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE BEHIND THE FRONT...ACROSS NORTHWEST
ARKANSAS AND FAR SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS.
SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BE STRONG...PRODUCING SMALL HAIL...
PRIMARILY OVER LE FLORE...SEBASTIAN...MADISON...AND FRANKLIN
COUNTIES. THE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO SHIFT EAST OF THE AREA BY
EARLY EVENING AS THE UPPER JET LIFTS NORTHEAST.

.SPOTTER ACTIVATION...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT...HOWEVER
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ACROSS NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AND
FAR SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA SHOULD MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS THIS
AFTERNOON.

.DISCUSSION...
A FEW THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THIS MORNING
ALONG ELEVATED INSTABILITY AXIS. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL
CONTINUE TO BE POSSIBLE ALONG AND BEHIND THE COLD FRONT THIS
AFTERNOON...AS REGION REMAINS IN RIGHT REAR QUADRANT OF STRONG UPPER
JET. FORECAST POINT SOUNDINGS SUPPORT ELEVATED CAPE VALUES BETWEEN
500-750 J/KG OVER FAR SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS.
GIVEN THE LOW WET BULB ZERO HEIGHTS...SMALL HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE
WITH THE STRONGER CELLS. SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE
FRONT OVER CENTRAL ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON...LIFTING NORTHEAST DURING
THE EVENING HOURS WITH PRECIPITATION ENDING.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 15, 12:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAHaskell44 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.